Lover Boys
by Pinkcandle
Summary: As the Kaiser threatens the Digital World, the chosen children stand up to oppose him. But Davis interests the Kaiser in particular, and his main desire soon becomes wanting only to dominate him. Davis/Ken Tai/Matt Season 2 Storyline
1. The Passing of the Torch

A/N: Well, here it is! The start of Boys Will Be Boys' sequel. If you haven't read that story, I recommend reading it first before you read this one, though this one can stand alone - but it does make reference to the first one, so reading Boys Will Be Boys first is a good idea. This one takes place during season 02. Just like last time, we have some alternating POVs before we get into the story, which will be in the third person. Now, without further ado, here's hoping you all enjoy Lover Boys.

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I don't think any of us will forget that summer three years ago. It was the greatest adventure of our lives. Hands down. And while we lingered in the experience for a while, real life eventually began calling. We had to move on. A lot has happened though, actually. To be honest, I don't think any of it would have been possible without our adventure. We all found new courage and strength to be ambitious and do what we wanted. Joe is a senior now at a private middle school. He'd doing really well, exceeding in everything, and he starts high school entrance exams soon. Of course he's a nervous wreck, but we know he'll survive.

I'm pretty sure a lot of his emotional flailing comes from the fact that Mimi isn't around any more. Her dad took a job in New York, so the family had to pack up and move. Mimi was really excited at first. The Big Apple is her kind of place, but then she realized that an entire ocean would be separating her from Joe. We've all figured out that they like each other. I think it's great. I don't know how Joe managed to grab her attention, but he deserves it. She calls him all the time, though.

Yamato is moving up in the world, too. Oh yeah. He abandoned Matt. I think he wants to be more grown up. I'm not ready for that yet, but I think it suits him. He started band. Yup. Yamato graduated from the harmonica to the guitar and put his vocals to use. He's the lead singer. He's pretty good. Really great, actually. Yamato really does belong on the stage. He has great looks and awesome presence. I never miss a show, even if I have to stand in the back. He, Sora, and I are all second year middle schoolers at the same school.

Speaking of Sora, she managed her way onto the tennis team. She's actually really good. I miss her at soccer games, but at least she's still into sports. Even her mom approves. Sora's rising to the top quickly, too. She just won a tournament last week. I'm not really surprised. She goes to practice every day and never misses the chance to go to a training camp. It means she's gone most weekends, but hey, we all have our own lives now, right? At least we still see each other in class. We even see Izzy in the halls.

We kind of expected him to go to the same private school as Joe. The kid is definitely smart enough. He decided to go here though. It's still his first year, so he might change his mind. Personally, I think he likes being around regular kids because he really wants to be one. Sometimes Izzy is a little too smart for his own good, but his intentions are sincere. He really is a good kid.

Again, speaking of kids, TK and Kari have really grown up. You almost wouldn't think they were the same people. Kari's taken up photography. She goes through cameras like Yamato goes through guitar picks. She's got tons of albums in her room, too. She's got a good knack for it. TK looks more and more like Yamato all the time. He shot up like a weed and his even on the basketball team at the elementary school. I can't believe the two of them are two years away from starting middle school. Times goes by so fast!

Oh, and me? Well, I'm still Tai to my friends. My parents insist on calling me Taichi. It's not bad, I'm just not used to it. And teachers too. I still play soccer and I'm still team captain. We're a shoo-in for regionals this year. Not much can stop us. Running around in shorts and a jersey feels pretty good after wearing that school uniform all day. Yamato might look amazing in green, but it's just not my color. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

Even though we hadn't seen our Digimon in three years, and the chances of us going back there were slim to none, I still carry my Digivice with me. I dunno. Call it nostalgia. It paid off today, though. Out of the blue, it started beeping on my belt. Right away I knew it was because Agumon needed me. I ran out to behind the school, clutching my Digivice in my hands. How was I supposed to get to him? I don't know how, but suddenly, I found myself in the Digital World. I can only guess that Agumon needed me so much, and I wanted to help him so badly, that I was drawn there to him. I found him fallen on the ground. A renegade Snimon was up in the air attacking other Digimon left and right. I noticed some kind of black collar around his waist and it made me think of the black gears. I tried to get Agumon to Digivolve, but that proved impossible. My only choice at that point was to take refuge in a cave and e-mail the others about the situation.

And that's the story I was told when I arrived in this Digital World as well. I have to tell you, the first day of school has never been this exciting. It all started when this weird kid named TJ or TF or something showed up. He hadn't been going to our school before, but somehow he knew Kari so well that he called her by her full name! I did the only sensible thing and confronted him about it, only for Yolei to show up with a print-out of an e-mail for Kari she received somehow. She brought us to the computer room and we met up with Izzy, who apparently knew what was going on just like Kari and TC, but they wouldn't tell me. Yolei left them alone, but I had to find out what was going on. Eventually TM said something about Digimon, and I knew I had heard Tai talk about that before. Some time after practice he was talking to some blond kid about them and I managed to get him to tell me a bit about them. Mainly that they live in a digital world and not ours. So when Izzy talked about going to help Tai, I knew exactly where they were going and I was going with them. They said I couldn't, but I had to. Why? Because I wanted to. I wanted to help, I wanted to see the Digital World, and I did not want to leave Kari with TF.

They still said I couldn't go without some kind of little things they called Digivices. But I knew there had to be a way, and wouldn't you know it, some light came out of the computer, shot into my hands, and turned into one of those devices. Sure, mine's all updated and looks a lot cooler, but it works all the same. Gotta admit, I was floored when Kari and TM managed to use their Digivices to literally jump right into the computer. It was weird, but I wasn't going to chicken out then, so I followed. Another weird thing was that when I got there, my clothes changed. I got this sweet bomber jacket with flames on it, it's totally... sweet. Everything seemed pretty normal, like some kind of jungle. That was until some weird slimy things came out of a vending machine in the middle of the wilderness. You can't make this stuff up. And even weirder, Tai showed up, with three freaky looking creatures which must have been Digimon. He brought us to some cave where this little white cat thing called Gatomon that stood on two feet explained to us that there was some evil guy named the Digimon Kaiser making all of the Digimon turn evil with his dark rings. I was freaked out enough that a cat was talking to me, let alone evil emperors. That's when Tai told us his side of the story of how he got there, and asked how I had. I showed him my Digivice thing and shrugged.

I didn't have time to worry about why Davis was here or how he even got a Digivice in the first place. Actually, I know where it came from. That one and two others. They'd come out of a DigiEgg I tried to pick up, but it didn't budge. All I managed to do was draw out the new Digivices, but they took off before I could get a good look at them. But why did Davis have one? Was... Was he a new chosen child? The Digital World was clearly in danger again, but why did it need new Digidestined? We were still here. We could help just like last time. So why...? "Daisuke," I used his full name to get his attention. Whatever was going on was serious, and he needed to know what. "Come with me." I led them to another chamber in the cave where I found the egg. It was red with yellow flames and a weird horn. It also bore the Crest of Courage. If I was right... "Try and pick up that egg."

"Why?" I asked, hesitant to even touch anything in this freaky world. When I didn't jump on the opportunity, Kari and TC both tried and complained about it being way too heavy to pick up. So when I tried it, I got a good grip, stood steady, and pulled as hard as I could, only to fall onto my back because the thing was light as air! "What were you guys complaining about?" I asked, brandishing the egg as I sat up. "This thing practically weighs nothing at all!"

Davis picked it up like it were an apple on a table! What's more, a fire orange light poured out from the hold the egg had been covering. Slowly, within that light, a shape began to form and eventually turned into a little blue Digimon I had never seen before. It looked up with big red eyes, blinking, and then jumped down to dance around Davis, singing the boy's praises. He kept saying something about a Digimental. Did he mean the DigiEgg?

Another one of those things showed up, and this one was way more energetic than the rest. He probably jumped around me three times before he stopped and introduced himself. He told me his name was Veemon, and that he'd been waiting a really long time for me. Or, at least, for the kid who was able to move that egg thing, which he called the Digimental of Courage. I don't remember being able to find my voice to say anything back to him more than introducing myself. The whole thing was just too weird.

I needed time to think about all of this, but I wasn't granted so much as a second before the cave began to shake. Davis cried earthquake just as TK pointed above us at a Monochromon breaking in through the ceiling. Its eyes were glowing red and we could see another one of those dark rings around its middle. Patamon and Agumon took their shot at it, but their Rookie powers were just too weak. Monochromon was about to launch its Volcano Strike on us, so we ran out of that cave as fast as we could.

This thing was huge! Like, Godzilla huge! Okay, maybe not that big, but it was way bigger than any of the other Digimon I'd met that day. Plus, it breathed fire. I was suddenly second guessing going to the Digital World. Veemon kept insisting I not run away and use my courage, but it's hard not to run when a giant monster's breathing fire at you! We finally got out of the cave and up onto a cliff, but that giant Digimon came charging out at us and shot another stream of fire. Veemon suddenly tackled me right off the cliff, and we fell down to the ground below, and hard. He kept saying, "Say Digimental up! Do it and hold out the Digimental!" Well, he had saved my life. I guess I'd give it a try. And when I did, something wicked happened. That little blue guy turned into... well, a bigger blue guy. With with a horn, and armor with flames on it! It had to be one of the coolest things I'd ever seen. And once he'd changed, he proceeded to kick some giant monster ass.

Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage. So, this was the new generation, huh? Armor Evolution was the next step. There were no doubts in my mind that these new kids would be stronger than we were. But I was sad to know that this also meant a stronger enemy was in store for them. Apocalymon had seemed near impossible to defeat. I can't imagine what could be worse than he was.

Once the dark ring was broken, the Monochromon was back to normal. Having witnessed the power of Davis' Digimon at work, I knew what needed to be done. "Daisuke..." I called him over to me. "You're a new chosen child, Daisuke. That means the fate of this world is in your hands now. You need to protect it. Courage was my attribute back in the say, but it seems to belong to you now. Here..." I took off my goggles. It would be my way of passing the torch. "I want you to have these."

And soon enough, in my hands, I held Tai's goggles. I don't think anyone else understands how important that is. Taichi's goggles were in my hands, and he was giving them to me. Those things were his mark, his symbol. And he was giving them to me. I must have literally ripped my old, smashed goggles off to put those beauties on. Sure, I'd just become a chosen child, whatever that was, and sure, apparently I had to save a whole world from complete destruction, but... Taichi's goggles, man. Taichi's goggles.

I was afraid to leave the Digimon alone, but Agumon assured me they would be safe, seeing as how the Kaiser only came out during the day. I asked Kari where they had come in at, since I'm not sure how I got here. They led me to a television where I saw Izzy eating ohagi with two other elementary kids. A girl with purple hair and big glasses looked at us and her jaw dropped to the floor. Davis shouted into the screen only for it to suck all of us in and dump us back out into our own world. Seems the gates needed a little work, but that was the least of the Digital World's problems. It was time for another adventure, only with a new enemy, and new chosen children.


	2. The Kaiser's Declaration

Wouldn't you know it that my second day in the Digital World something has to go wrong? Yolei and Cody insisted we show it to them, and with the Digivices they got the day before, they were able to come with Izzy, TJ, Kari, Sora and I to the Digital World, and I was expecting to be able to meet up with Veemon and see more of the world. But the Kaiser attacked as soon as we got there. He sent three Digimon to attack us, and one made a huge hole that Veemon and I fell into. I don't remember what happened next. I must have hit my head or something on the way down, because when that huge drilling Digimon dragged us under, everything went black. When I woke up, I was no longer in the open field we'd been at before. Far from it. I'd been shackled to the side of a cliff, looking out at this huge, empty wasteland of a place. "Where...?" I started, but couldn't find the words.

I had been expecting them to return. The new players. I was willing to admit that the game was quite fun. They all had the proper playing pieces, so I knew they would be back. I saw that boy again, the one in the ridiculous goggles. The girl in pink and the boy with the hat were with him again as well, but there were some new children with them. Older and younger. No matter. I was game master by now anyway and I ruled the playing field. I sent three Digimon pawns I had procured to hunt them down. The boy with goggles fell right into my trap. Such a clumsy little fool. His Digimon pawn wasn't much better, getting hit in the head and falling over his own feet. It was so funny to watch. The other children ran away, but at least I had one of them. It was still early in the game. I had plenty of time for them later. I had been waiting for the goggle boy to wake up for a while now. When he finally did, the look of shock on his face made my skin tingle. "I see you're finally awake."

I heard a voice echoing from somewhere above me, so I craned my neck up as best as I could to get a look at whoever was speaking. It was a kid with dark hair standing high up on the top of the cliff. I could barely make out his features aside from those weird giant glasses that blocked out his eyes and that cape he wore. "Who's there?!" I demanded, still unable to see him very well.

His voice was full of so much determination and courage. And his cockiness abounded. I had to laugh. I just had to. He was hardly in a position to be so demanding. I clearly had the upper hand. The boy in goggles was shakled to the cliff wall. There was no way for him to climb up, and there was miles of bottomless canyon below for him to fall into. So really... I was the only thing keeping him alive. The boy was lucky that I was feeling merciful today. "I never expected you'd be so easy to catch," I said to him. I never doubted I would be able to, but after the performance he gave with his Digimon pawn last time, I thought there would be more this time. "I'm a little disappointed that you didn't have some fight in you. Without your little fire lizard to fight for you, I guess you're nothing more than babe that hasn't even learned to walk yet."

"Are you the Digimon Kaiser?!" I yelled. He spoke really quietly and darkly, but I don't think he realized it was hard to hear him when you were so far apart. He might've answered me, but he still spoke so quietly. So, I just kept yelling. "You're just a kid, like me!" That's when he laughed. Now that, I could hear. And finally, he started to talk louder, yelling back down at me.

Oh now that was rich. "Like you? I don't think so." Goggle boy was out of his league and he had no idea! So funny! I looked down at him again, unable to contain my grin. He had just made the game so much more fun for me. "I'll show you how different we are." I snapped my fingers which initiated a sequence I had programmed into the cliffs. The stone opened up and his Digimon pawn was presented to him, also in shackles. They were a matching pair! Of course they cried out to each other. Partners in every movie and game do that. I was expecting it. Then the boy said something about getting his pawn to level up. "It's futile." I held up his game pieces. "You can't do anything without these. None of you can."

He'd taken my Digivice and D-Terminal! I squirmed against the restraints, feeling the metal dig into my wrists as I was able to move enough to be able to get a full view of the Kaiser. He had the most annoying tone in his voice and the biggest grin on his face. I wanted to punch it clean off. "You'd better let us go!"

I folded my hands behind my back, shaking my head. "I can't do that. You see... This is your punishment for trespassing in my area. You really are lucky, though. I decided to go easy on you. Tell me, boy, are you comfortable?"

"Of course not! What kind of question is that?!" The way he talked like he was king of the world really got on my nerves. I kicked against the shackles, but they held tight and I just managed to hurt my ankle as my knee jerked forward slightly.

I laughed. This kid really was entertaining. I liked watching him squirm in the shackles. However, I didn't much appreciate his attitude. Didn't he know who I was? Of course he did. He even identified me as the Digimon Kaiser! Well then, he should behave better. "Show some respect, boy," I hissed. "I could have put you in much worse. You should be grateful. Say: Thank you, master, for being so good to me."

"No way!" I snapped, gritting my teeth. "If you think I'm ever going to call you that, you can think again!"

"Is that so?" His words put a sour expression on my face. I did not like hearing that at all. "Listen to me, boy. All matter of life in this world will call me master, and you are no exception. Mark my words. You will bow to me on your knees sooner than you think."

"Never! We're not going to let that happen," I yelled back. "I don't know who you think you are, but what you're doing is wrong and we chosen kids are going to take you down!"

"Oh are you?" I scoffed. This wasn't entertaining anymore. I had to put some fun back into the situation. Ah, I know... "Soon, this entire world will be under my control, and I'm going to start with that little fire lizard. You can see now as your friend becomes my slave from up close." Again I snapped my fingers and summoned one of the thousands of dark rings I had programmed. The little pawn mocked me at first. He kept going on and on about waiting for and meeting his player. How that would somehow save him from my power. I'd show him...

"Don't do it!" I gasped, watching that ring float into my view from the cliff-top. It moved painfully slowly towards Veemon, and suddenly it seemed like time was moving so much more slowly as the little blue dinosaur glared with a smirk on his face at the ring. "Veemon..." I murmured, suddenly stopping my fight against the restraints. The taunts from the Kaiser I could take, but I couldn't bear to watch Veemon be turned evil. Not after I'd finally met him. "Don't do it!"

I was just about to have my victory when the girl with glasses came flying in on her pawn and destroyed the ring. How dare she! Then some... some... some giant yellow mole burst through the cliffs and set that fire lizard free! They were ruining everything! Their little white cat had the nerve to stand in my way, and then Wormmon went and screwed everything up. He went and got himself hit, thinking I would catch him, and made me drop the boy's game pieces! Shit! Shit! Worthless little worm! Fed up, I just used my whip to remove the feline pawn from my path and summoned my original three pawns back to the field. I would let them finish the other players off for me.

Would you believe it? The rest of the kids showed up just in time, Yolei and Cody bringing along with them two brand new Digimon, Halsemon and Digmon. They got Veemon and me free, and the Kaiser dropped my Digivice and D-Terminal! Along with Flamedramon, the three Digimon managed to destroy all of the dark rings, setting the three Digimon attacking us free from the Kaiser's control. "Alright! Now, for the..." I turned to look up at where the Digimon Kaiser had been standing, but he'd vanished. "He got away," I grumbled, crossing my arms. That rat! He probably turned tail and ran as soon as he sent those Digimon to attack us, knowing it would buy him time! Well... at least we'd destroyed all of those damn dark rings.

Indeed I had retreated to me citadel. Don't think I'm a coward. I'm not! But I had to observe these new players in action. "Not bad. At least they're interesting enough." I opened a few files, looking over the lists held within. So many choices. Which Digimon pawn would I play with tomorrow? Of course, it didn't really matter. They're all so much fun.

Veemon apologized to the three Digimon for having to hurt them in order to get the dark rings off, but they were just grateful to be free of the Kaiser's control. "That idiotic Digimon Kaiser!" I snorted, hands balling into fists. "I'm getting really pissed off at him!"

"Yolei," Hawkmon piped up, gesturing with his wing to the girl with glasses and causing the group to completely ignore Davis' words. "Can I depend on you to give me power?"

"Sure! You can count on me!" Yolei said proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Cody, we'll be partners from now on, dagya," Armadillomon said as a wide smile came across his short, yellow snout.

I saw the smallest child smile with equal enthusiasm. "Yes, it will be a pleasure working with you," he said to his pawn. Their faith in each other was admirable, but gravely misplaced.

Sora, Izzy, and their Digimon spoke about how they were going to work together with us, even though their Digimon could no longer Digivolve to their stronger forms to fight. But there was only one thought on my mind as I rubbed at my now aching wrists. "C'mon, let's go home!"

I watched them all depart through one of the gate back to the real world. Some of the Digimon went with them while others stayed behind. Some ugly pink parakeet and a cockroach of some sort. They spoke of keeping an eye on me. Such a ridiculous notion. I had constant eyes and ears on them! There was nothing they did that I didn't know about. I'd win this game yet.


	3. Setting His Sights

Every single day we spend in the Digital World, the Digimon Kaiser just gets more and more annoying. Our third day, he showed up as a hologram, the coward, telling us that we were less than perfect and therefore couldn't be Chosen Children. Can you believe this guy? Not only that, but he sent five Tyrannomon after us, and had them go after Gatomon and Patamon, who still couldn't Digivolve! What an asshole. We put him in his place, though. While Flamedramon, Halsemon, and Digmon held off the Tyrannomon, Kari and TG were able to find two more Digimentals, and these ones were theirs. And with the added help of Pegasusmon and Nefertimon, we were finally a match for our five enemies. They destroyed the dark rings, and set all of the Tyrannomon free. And just like last time, the Kaiser ran off in the confusion. I bet he had his tail between his legs after watching that!

My week was so boring. I had business in the Digital World, but did any of these annoying little parasites care? No. First it was that computer contest. I won. Big surprise. They were all amazed, said I was ahead of my time, a genius. I just fed them some drivel about being humble and all that nonsense. Oh yes, and there were those twenty simultaneous chess matches. I could have done that in my sleep. I would have asked for fifty opponents, but I didn't want to look arrogant. They interviewed me in judo class and at a soccer game. Just more things to say I'm the best at. That Ichijouji couple were all flattered and embarrassed. I found it rather disgusting. Why can't they just let me get back to my work? The Digital World is waiting for me to conquer it! The woman, my mother I suppose, went off to her job and I was finally able to get away. I was enjoying a good sport of watching some pawns fight each other. It'd pitted them against each other in my colliseum. Then those other players showed up again. I'd wanted to fight with them some more, but I wasn't in a very happy mood today. And yes, I did sick my Tyrannomon on them. I had that boy... Davis... almost at his doom, but the others rescused him again! I'm getting so frustrated by all of this! The other children... I could care less about them. Davis... He's the one who gets under my skin.

The next day, we spent our time freeing captive Digimon from the Kaiser's arena. He had them all locked up with Dark Rings on, probably to make them fight each other. It was a pretty depressing sight, but Taichi came and helped us bust all of them out! And the Kaiser wasn't even smart enough to have any defenses or even be around! We got them out no problem, and it seemed like that'd be it for the day. But we got an SOS signal, and it turned out to be TC's older brother's Digimon sending the message. Apparently the Kaiser had attacked a village of Gazimon where his Digimon, Gabumon, had been living and set up a Control Spire. I wanted to bust in and kick his ass, but TY had to spoil my fun and say that we couldn't fight or the Kaiser would just use the captive Digimon as a shield. And of course, Kari agreed with him. She always agrees with him! Why can't she ever agree with me?

So we had to go with their plan and invade the prison. The Digimon made fake black rings and lead us in on ropes. I know it was just an act, but it was still pretty humiliating. And on top of that, when I finally had a chance to take on the guard Veggiemon blocking our way, everyone told me that it was a bad idea again because we had captives with us. I mean, what the hell? Why was everyone so set in being sneaky when we could have easily blasted away those Veggiemon!? On top of that, TJ brought up my bratty sister and when I told him that I didn't like her, his brother tried to fight me about it, and then told me to watch my mouth! And when TF finally got him to calm down, Kari came over and said she hated people like me. Why was everyone against me?!

The only one on my side that day was Veemon. He even flung himself at the RedVeggiemon without even thinking, just to get me fired up again. But even that went horribly wrong. The Veggiemon tied us up in their vines and made us watch as Veemon was hit by the RedVeggiemon's spikes clubs a hundred times. I couldn't even stand to watch it. I told the RedVeggiemon to hit me instead, but he just laughed and told me to wait my turn. Veemon was strong, though, and smart, too. He backed up against the Control Spire, and before the RedVeggiemon could land his final hit, Veemon dodged out of the way and made the Kaiser's slave destroy his own tower! With the tower cracked, Yamato's Digimon was able to Digivolve, and together, Garurumon and Flamedramon were more than a match for those Veggiemon. Digmon was able to destroy the tower entirely, and our objective was then clear. We had to destroy all of the towers. And we would, one by one! This was just the first step in a battle we're definitely going to win!

So they set all my play things free. I don't really care. Most of those Digimon were so weak, I can easily round them up again when I want a good show. I had more important things to attend to. I was making excellent progess with my Dark Towers. Setting them up was key. I has just finished constructing another one, making that area my territory. Any Digimon there with a ring on was under my control without me even having to be there. Now this was genius! I made my way to the grubby little village there. It was full of Gazimon, and one Gabumon, which I found strange, but no matter. I controlled all of them now. Of course, I didn't have rings for them yet, so I locked them away for safe keeping. Those ugly little dogs had the nerve to break out! I had RedVeggiemon take care of them for me. I didn't have anything to worry about. Everything was under control. Or at least I thought it was. Again... Again those children came back! Like bugs that wouldn't die! They showed up with some taller blond. Where were they finding all these players? I didn't have time for this! Nothing was going right. And then more came. The girl with glasses, some boy witha giant head of hair, and that red-haired one! Ugh! They were like termites, crawling up through the cracks! But Davis... Davis, Davis, Davis. He destroyed my Dark Tower. He... had the nerve... to bring down one of my towers! No. No... Don't get angry. It's fine. I don't need that area anyway. What they don't know is that I'm less than a year away from conquering this world. When all the Digimon are my pawns, worshiping, we'll see who the real game master is.

After that, it was one Chosen Child's Digimon getting attacked after another. The next day, it was Joe's Digimon, Gomamon, who sent us an SOS. He'd been living in a super cold place with a bunch of Gizamon who all turned on him in hopes that this would ease the Kaiser's abuse against them. No such luck. They were all put under the Kaiser's control, so we had to cross a huge snow field in order to take down the Control Spire. Of course, I had a brilliant plan to get across it, and we built a huge raft out of trees for the Digimon to pull us across on. Everything was going great at first. Thanks to my instructions, we were able to get past the line of Fridgimon, dodge an avalanche they caused, and even jump over a huge fissure in the ground. Unfortunately, the Digimon skidded on the ice and our raft turned over, throwing Cody into a freezing cold river. Gomamon saved him, but we had to stop and make a fire in a cave we found to warm him back up again before we could keep going. Flamedramon and I were able to take down all of the Fridgimon guarding the tower, so Pegasusumon, Halsemon, and Nefertimon could destroy it. And when we did, Joe's Digimon was finally able to Digivolve to his Champion form, Ikkakumon, to save Digmon from being dragged underwater by one of the Kaiser's bigger Digimon slaves. Together, they took it down, and we'd freed another area! And according to Gomamon, the Kaiser had just taken it over, too! I bet that really pissed him off.

I decided to start setting up Dark Towers in other places. Regions in the outskirts. I found a nice frozen wasteland full of Gizamon. I constructed the tower, staking my claim, and set the to work. I didn't think they were going to be such lame workers! I didn't have all day to wait for these prisons! Wormmon was of no help, pushing coats on me and whining incessantly at my feet. I don't know why I keep him around. Only adding to my irritation was a white seal otter thing. I don't care. He was one of those Digimon who thought he could stand up to me. He had the nerve to tell me how to play the game! I do enjoy proving my power to rebels. With the mere promise of work relief, I got those Gizamon to turn on that rude little otter in seconds flat. Oh, and the promise? Well, I never really promised anything. These prisons needed to be built, so to solve my lazy worker problem, I just stuck rings on all of them. They weren't complaining now.

However, I knew this wouldn't last. I've discovered that whenever I make progress, those other players show up. This game is becoming to predictable. I managed to corner the little one and a tall one I hadn't seen before. Of course I didn't bother to learn his name. It wouldn't matter soon anyway. I can't believe they thought they could hide from me like that. I'm the Digimon Kaiser! I know everything that goes on in this world. My world. Apparently that white otter thing was a pawn of the tall boy. He even tried to fight my Shellmon. The fight was clearly futile, but nonetheless entertaining. The yellow mole jumped in eventually. Two against one and it was still a losing battle for them. When were they going to learn? I wasn't worried about the tower. I had an army of Fridgimon there. I'd be done with these two soon enough and then I'd go take care of the others. The plan seemed perfect... So why didn't it work? Why?! First Shellmon's ring was destroyed, so I brought in Ebidramon. He dragged that yellow mole under the water. He had to be finished. But no! Davis! Davis! Davis! My tower! My glorious Dark Tower! I swear, Davis! You... You will call me your master, even if I have to build a thousand Dark Towers. I will grow so powerful that you will be left trembling in fear of me. I swear, Davis.

We decided to give ourselves a break the next day and go to one of the uncontrolled areas of the Digital World for a picnic. After all, it was the beginning of Golden Week. And wouldn't you know it, the day after our adventure with Joe, we meet his girlfriend! She came all the way over from America, partially to visit Joe, and partially for her cousin's wedding. We invited her to come on our picnic with us. After all, thanks to Yolei's parents owning that convenience store, she was able to bring a ton of food anyway. And weirdly enough, she was really insistent on bringing Mimi with us. We were having a great time until Armadillmon threw some food and Hawkmon ran off after it. Then, somehow, we wound up losing him, Yolei, and Mimi too. We spent a really long time looking for them until I picked up Yolei's signal on my Digivice. We managed to find her after she destroyed a Control Spire, and she got mad at me for intruding in on her and Mimi. I think she's got a thing for her... isn't that weird? At least the Kaiser sent some hack Roachmon this time instead of something really threatening, so Halsemon could take them on on his own. As everyone else left, I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the Roachmon, now free of his control, bickering and fighting. Turning to the dark forest, I shouted, "Your choices of enemies for us just get stupider and stupider, Kaiser!"

"What?!" A white square. Not black. White. "I just lost another area?! This has just become a dull Golden Week." It had been my plan to make some major advancement during the holiday. I figured the other players would be too busy celebrating to bother coming here. I hate how they keep proving me wrong. I was tired of it all. I was done. "I'm going home." But it wasn't over. Not until Davis was mine.

For the rest of Golden Week, we took down at least three Control Spires a day. We were making awesome progress. But we came to one area that was just crawling with these robotic Digimon called Guardromon, and we were totally outnumbered. When we went to retreat through the portal, one of them blew it up behind TW, trapping Kari in the area. So, he and I went back to the area next to it while Yolei and Cody went to try and explain to our parents a fake reason why we'd be back late. I flipped a coin to try and be the one to save Kari and send TD home, but he figured out that it was a joke coin with identical sides... But, as much as I don't like to admit it, working with TC wasn't that bad. And when we found Kari, she called to me first! Of course, some Digimon on the Ultimate Level showed up and ruined it. I didn't even know what an Ultimate was until we faced Andromon. He was really strong, and his Spiral Sword attack turned both Flamedramon and Pegasusmon back into their Rookie forms. But Kari insisted she recognized this Digimon, and did everything she could to get him to recognize them too. First, he recognized my goggles. Then, Taichi showed up and he seemed to know him faintly, too. And then, Kari's Digivice managed to bring him back to his senses, and he destroyed the dark ring right from around his neck! Andromon thanked us by destroying the Control Spire. Guess it just goes to show that we don't actually have to fight to overpower those things. Sometimes a little willpower can do just as well! "Looks like those stupid rings aren't strong enough for Ultimate level Digimon!"

One of my alarms started to go off. That's when I caught her on my screens. The girl in pink. She was cute enough, but nothing about her made me consider mercy. She was an opposing player, so naturally I had to get rid of her. There could only be one game master. "Ken, shouldn't you be getting home?"

Ugh... His annoying little voice. That stupid name. Ken. Ken. Ken. Ken. When was he going to learn? "Haven't I told you to stop calling me that?! I'm not Ken! I am the Digimon Kaiser!" He cowered as usual, sniveling and apologizing pathetically. Makes me sick. But back to the girl. Which pawn should I ise this time. Ah... "Let's run a test on that one." I heard Wormmon gasp something about it being an Ultimate Level. But that was the whole point. Sure the other players were strong as a group, but I'm sure I could easily pick them off one by one.

Why? Why, why, why? Why did Davis have to constantly undermine me? Why did he have to be the thorn in my side? Fine. Maybe my Dark Rings aren't strong enough for an Ultimate Level Digimon... But I'm positive they'll work on something that needs much more controlling, Davis.


	4. The Kaiser's Trap

"Next Sunday, we'll be having a match against the team from Tamachi Elementary." Davis felt his eyes widen and a gasp slip through his lips as he stood out on the soccer field with the rest of his team, gathered around their coach as the sun set across the water. The Tamachi Elementary team was the championship holder, and that meant...

"Coach, does that mean that boy genius will be playing?" Davis asked, grinning. They'd been seeing this kid all over the news lately. Ken Ichijouji. He was a genius, so they said. He could do almost anything. He was really good at academics and logic, but one thing really caught Davis' attention. He was a soccer legend. He had a tournament record of forty-five goals, over double the previous record. When he went to the computer lab later to meet up with the other kids, he had Yolei look the kid up online. Davis couldn't explain it, but something about this kid really caught his attention. Not only that, but he wanted to meet him and play him in soccer. It didn't matter if he won or not. If he even made it a close game, he'd be a living legend!

Except Ken didn't show up. Not when the rest of his team arrived or even as the game started. The entire first half went by without Ken Ichijouji. It wasn't until a bunch of girls started screaming up on the sidewalk that anyone noticed he was finally there. He stepped out of a taxi already in uniform with his duffle over his shoulder. On the way down the steps, he cringed, frozen. There... There down on the field was that boy. Ken recognized him even without those ridiculous goggles and tacky bomber jacket. Davis. He soon noticed that the other children were there as well. At first all Ken felt was rage. Even in the real world they were there to get in his way, but then a thought occured to him. If Davis was in fact on the opposing team, it would be the perfect chance to humiliate him in front of his friends. So Ken just put on a smile and went to meet his team, apologizing for being late and took his place on the field for the second half. Davis took his place across from Ken, sizing him up with a quick sweep of his chocolate brown eyes. This kid didn't look so tough. Confidence pumped through Davis' veins and he offered a friendly grin as he got into position. "How you feeling?" he offered casually. "I'm Daisuke. Daisuke Motomiya."

Ken looked over into the stands again. Davis' friends were wishing him luck. A lot of good that would do him. Ken just smirked. "I'm fine. Pleased to meet you," he said smoothly without bothering to give his name in return. Surely Davis knew who he was anyway. The whistle was blown and the ball was barely put into play before Ken was on the move, passing Davis with surprising speed and grace. One of his teammates kicked the ball to him which he began moving down the field. Fake right, move left. Dodging. Right, left, right, left, right. The ball bounced once and he took the shot. In a blur, the checkered ball bulleted into the net. The goalie never even had a chance.

Davis had run in pursuit of Ken, but now he skid to a stop with his mouth agape. "He's fast..." he murmured.

Girls began to squeal with delight from the stands, Yolei included as she pressed Poromon against her face and wriggled with excitement. "Nice play, Ken!" She moved the little Digimon back to her lap but still pulled on his wings in her excitement. "Why can't Davis be that cool!?"

Ken took full control of the game after that. It was a lot of fun teasing Davis. Ken even came up to him with the ball at one point, as if Davis might have a chance to steal it, but he kicked it up on his toes at the last second. The ball went right over Davis' head and back between Ken's feet on the other side. Ken made goal after goal after goal. "He's too good," Taichi hissed from where he sat. "He's not at a grade school level. With those techniques, he's easily the best in the Youth League class."

Soon the game was 9:1. Ken rallied his team into action. "Open up the right side! Defenders, bring the line up by three meters! Let's go for Formation D!" He started to run, two of his teammates behind to guard him. The ball was caught on his chest and Ken started in for the tenth and final goal.

"No!" Davis knew he couldn't win, but he wasn't going to give Ken the satisfaction of that last goal. He suddenly fell into a fast slide, his cleat grazing Ken's ankle and sending him toppling over Davis' outstretched leg as Davis kicked the soccer ball out of Ken's reach. The whistle was blown and the game was over as the ball rolled all the way across the field to the boundary, leaving Davis breathing heavily with the grin of his own tiny victory on his face. Ken grit his teeth. Not again... Not again! Where was an army of Tyrannomon when you needed them? He walked off the field, standing near his team but not with them. Ken hated standing next to them. He couldn't barely even tolerate being associated with them. They were all mediocre, talentless hacks. Just like the Digimon, these kids were his pawns in the soccer game. He directed them across the field for the sake of his own victory. The idea of a team meant nothing. As his own team began to pack their things up in disappointment, Davis stood awkwardly at the edge of the team. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed Ken wasn't standing in the midst of his team mates, either, and for some reason found himself trotting over to the boys in green. "Um... Hey, Ken!" he called. When the other boy turned to look at him, Davis suddenly stopped and meekly scratched at the back of his neck. "Are you okay? Just now, I didn't mean to kick your leg so hard..."

"Hm?" Dark eyes looked down near his ankle where there was a tear in his sock along with some faint blood and dirt stains. "Oh that. It doesn't hurt at all," he said with a smile. "You know, you had a really nice play back there. I thought you were coming from the other side." Ken scoffed at his own words in his head. Why did he even bother trying to make these simpletons feel better? "This is actually the first time someone managed to stop that formation. Daisuke Motomiya, was it?"

"Really?" Davis asked, his face lighting up. He seemed surprised when Ken said his name, but nodded slowly, saying, "Y-yeah, that's it."

Ken just smiled. "Well, I'm certainly glad to have met you." He reached out his hand to shake. It was astounding when Davis just stared at it. Really, could he possibly be this dumb? Finally Davis shook hands with him. There you go... Ken made sure to give the other hand an almost dangerous squeeze before letting go.

But still, Davis just smiled. "Yeah, it was nice to meet you too," he said, laughing nervously before he bowed his head a bit and rushed off to rejoin the rest of the group.

On the walk home, Kari couldn't help noticing Davis' positive attitude. "Wow, Davis, you're smiling even though you lost. That's a big step up for you," she said, meaning it as a compliment.

Davis had his hands behind his head, looking off into space as if he was seeing something that none of the other kids could see. "Daisuke... That genius called me by my name," he sighed, grinning. "I've got something to really brag about."

Yolei whined from behind him, pulling on Poromon's cheek. "I couldn't get Ken's autograph..."

Cody frowned at the older girl. "Yolei..." he sighed softly.

TK just nodded. "But that final sliding tackle was amazing."

"Yeah," Kari agreed.

"I'm so proud of you, Davis!" DemiVeemon squeaked from atop the boy's head.

"Really?" Davis asked, looking up at his little Digimon with a grin. "Maybe now I can become a member of Japan's national soccer team!"

Tai had been walking at the front of the group. He hadn't looked back at all and had his hands in his pockets. While he saw a lot of himself in Davis, the younger boy carried too much pride. More than he ever did. Tai did always have too much confidence in himself though, so he said what he had to in order to keep Davis in check. "Why don't you say that after you give us a decent game? Nine to one is nothing to be proud of. It was just that one play, that's all."

Davis' face fell and he pouted. Tai was his idol and he didn't quite like the fact that he was the only one who didn't spare him any praise. "Aw, c'mon Taichi, that's harsh."

Behind them, standing on the overpass, was Ken Ichijouji. He'd followed them from the field. Now he stood up there, watching them walk away with venom in his eyes. So, Davis thought Ken was something special, hm? Well, maybe some special, personal, one-on-one time would please him. It would certainly lift Ken's spirits. He knew that much.

The next day, all the children were back in the computer lab. It was Cody who noticed a new Dark Tower on the map. They all thought it was a bit strange. The tower was the only one in a barren location called Shi no Tani, or Death Valley. When TK assumed the Kaiser was schemeing, he was dead on. The Kaiser had constructed the tower overnight, and now he was playing the waiting game. When they arrived in the valley, every child looked around and found that it was barren and empty. "There's really nothing here," Kari commented as she looked over the deserted wasteland. It was just sand, sand, and more sand, save for a few dunes and cliffs in the distance.

"Over there!" Davis said, pointing his finger at the Control Spire that they could just make out on the horizon from where they stood.

"We can't let our guard down," TK reminded them. "We don't know if there are any enemies hiding somewhere."

Cody nodded. "He's right. Tread carefully."

Davis lead the group up a sandy slope as they trekked towards the dark tower. Everything was silent save for the wind gently blowing over the hills until Yolei let out a sudden cry, only to be instantly silenced. Everyone looked over their shoulders in surprise to see that she was no longer behind them. "Yolei!" Kari called, only for the sand to swallow her up as well, followed immediately by everyone else in the group except for Davis and Veemon. Davis stumbled over to where they had been standing, looking down at the sand with shock painted on his face. "What the heck?! What's going on?!"

Veemon immediately began looking around, eyes and ears on alert for danger. "Be careful, Davis! I don't think sand just swallows people up like that! This might be an enemy's attack!" As for those who had been taken, they were falling through a black bottomless void, crying out for help in vain. TK was the only one who questioned their location, though his voiced concern was quite pointless. Veemon watched as Davis dug a hole in the sand. Third one, in fact. "Davis! Contact Taichi and the others for help!" he insisted.

"No time!" Davis insisted, shaking his head as he continued to dig, hoping his friends had just fallen into a hole a bit below the surface. Sweat beaded down the side of his face as the holes didn't even seem to get much deeper, as every handful he threw away was replaced by more sand sliding back into the hole. "Damn Digimon Kaiser!"

"You seem to be in trouble." The Kaiser's voice echoed from somewhere, sounding almost like it was coming from above in the sky, or at least far away. "I'm holding your precious friends hostage. If you want to see them again, you have to come to me!"

"Damn it!" Davis hissed, instantly breaking into a run, following the voice. He climbed up over a jagged rock formation before he finally saw the one he was looking for. "Digimon Kaiser! Where are my friends?!" he growled, tightening his hands into fists.

The Kaiser laughed when Davis finally caught up to him. "Thanks for your hard work," he chided. "Your friends? They're right over there." He gestured to a narrow overhang between two cliffs. There, tied up in rope, the other children and their Digimon hung helplessly.

"Are you guys hurt?!" Davis called.

"Davis, I'm sorry!" Kari cried.

"We let our guard down!" TK chimed in.

"Be careful!" Cody added.

"Davis, hurry up and save us!" Yolei demanded, kicking her feet.

"I'll save you all now!" Davis yelled, starting to run towards the rock bridge.

"Hold it right there!" barked the Kaiser. When he had Davis' full attention again, he smiled. "Your friends' lives are in danger." He looked up, face suddenly hardening with a snarl. "Come out, Deltamon!" The entire ground began to shake and an enormous Digimon suddenly broke out from one of the cliffs. It was a great blue dragon with two tails and glowing red eyes. He sported a mechanical lizard head and another dinosaur skull instead of hands. Around his waist was the Dark Ring controlling him. "It seems like it's my Deltamon's feeding time... and all your friends are going to be his meal," the Kaiser said.

"What?! No!" Davis spun around to face the Kaiser up on the cliff, gritting his teeth and his hands in fists. "Don't do it! If you do I... I'll never forgive you!"

The Kaiser laughed. "You won't forgive me? When did I even ask for that? Their lives are in my hands now. If you want to save them..." Davis was in the pefect spot. If the Kaiser could just keep him there for a bit longer... "I know," he said with another smug grin. "Bow down before me."

Veemon clenched his fists and bore his little razor sharp teeth. "What did you say?!"

Davis stared at the Kaiser for a second, then looked at the three-headed Digimon hungrily eyeing his friends. The boy let out a defeated sigh and dropped to his knees, having to swallow hard before he managed to say, "I'm begging you... spare them."

"You're begging me?" Oh, this was delicious. "I wonder if I should do you a favor?"

Davis groaned, but bent his arms down so his head could nearly touch the dirt in a low bow. "Please, spare them!"

Veemon couldn't believe what he saw. He knew how hard this was for Davis, so why didn't the boy just have him Digivolve and fight? "Veemon!" Red eyes looked up at the Kaiser who was smiling with malicious delight. "Step on his head." The blue lizard gasped. Everything in his face and posture screamed defiance.

"Veemon, do it," Davis said quietly. "We have to do it this way, we can't risk everyone's lives. Just do it."

Veemon swallowed, but nodded. "Okay..." He lifted his foot with great hesitation, but did manage to press it down on the boy's head. The Kaiser was laughing now, loudly, sadistically. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Davis," Veemon whimpered.

"Seeing that you're willing to humiliate yourself so much, I might just save them," the Kaiser said. He loved the glimmer of hope in Davis' eyes when both the boy and his Digimon looked up at him. It meant he could crush that hope. "But not everyone... Deltamon is very hungry and I've made him wait so long. Tell you what. There are four children, but Deltamon only has three mouths to feed, so you may save one of them. Now choose." He then procured a small hourglass. "I'll give you until the sand runs out. If you don't pick by then, he'll eat all of them."

"No..." Davis' face fell as he looked over at the children and Digimon hanging over Deltamon's open mouths. The other Digidestined shouted not to be saved, urging Davis to save the others, but he didn't even hear them. "I can't choose... I... I... Damn it!" he ran his hands up into his hair and gripped tightly at the short brown strands. He could hear the Kaiser's evil laughter and he knew the time must have been almost up. "What should I do? I..." Suddenly, he gasped and jerked his head upwards. "Let them live! Take... T-take me instead!"

"Take you instead?" The Kaiser took a step and skid down the steep slope, meeting Davis at the bottom. "I was enjoying watching you suffer. You injured my pride, Daisuke Motomiya... You deserve this pain. You were pretty quick on your feet on that field, but not here. You're in my world now."

"What?" Davis asked, looking up at the Kaiser from where he knelt with a confused expression on his face. "What're you talking about?" That was when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a red stain that was seeping across the bottom of the Kaiser's pant leg. "No... No way..."

"So, you finally noticed?" The Kaiser stood from where he'd been crouching. "And before you go saying it's just a coincidence... It is exactly what you think." He lifted his hand to remove the dark glasses from his face, revealing the indigo eyes that were hard focused on Davis during that soccer game. "Indeed I am Ken Ichijouji, but you will only know me as master in a few moments." It was then that he snapped his fingers and a trap door opened beneath the boy on the ground in front of him.

"Wha- ahhh!" His thoughts were cut off when Davis screamed in surprise as he was suddenly plummeted into a pitch black hole. The trap door made of metal promptly slammed shut after him, and somehow, was once again covered with sand and became impossible to tell apart from any other patch of ground.

The Kaiser just laughed. Fladramon started to launch at him, but in that same instance, an Airdramon came swooping in. The Kaiser jumped on its back and retreated. Now, finally, he'd put Davis in his place, and nothing would stop him.


	5. Calling Him Master

Davis hit the cold ground below with a thud, immersed in complete blackness. Davis groaned with pain and sat up. He'd looked up to Ken! He'd admired him and wanted to be just like him, but now all of that respect had been instantly drained away now that he knew the boy genius was actually the Digimon Emperor. He looked upwards and could see that no light was filtering down into the hole. He was in pitch darkness and couldn't see his hand in front of his face. "What the hell..." he murmured as he looked up at the ceiling he couldn't see.

Then came the sound of soft scuttling across the cold metal floor. "I'm sorry," said a warbled voice before sticky web was shot at Davis. It stuck to his clothes, and with one good jerk, the shorts, jacket, and shirt came off.

"What-?" Davis was about to ask what the voice was sorry for when he suddenly felt the fabric of his clothing being pulled off. He made a choking noise in the back of his throat, trying to get to his feet but stumbling over himself in the dark and falling back into a sitting position. "What do you think you're doing!?" he shouted into the darkness.

"I don't have a choice," the small, sad voice explained. Davis' shoes were taken off next, followed by his socks, and finally, even the boxers were stickied and tugged off. The scurrying noise drew closer until it was almost right in front of Davis. Another web was shot out, effectively forcing Davis back and pinning him to the wall.

Davis made a loud groaning noise as he was thrown back against the metal wall, affected not only by the force of the blow but the cold metal suddenly touching his bare skin. "Augh!" he gasped, feeling the slimy sensation of the sticky net pressing into his skin, holding him fast against the wall.

Little clawed feet began crawling up Davis' body, using the web to pull itself along. "It's better if you just do what he says. Trust me. You'll suffer less." The little claws pulled the goggles off the boy's head and tossed them away. "Sorry, he says you can't be wearing anything, but I'll take care of them." Finally, the creature took each of Davis' wrists and locked them in a pair of overhead cuffs that were strung up on the wall. The web was made to fall apart in little strands, leaving the boy hanging with his feet not even touching the floor.

Davis found his gloves gone last, and he gripped at the chains, biting his lip. He thought for a second, before he said, "I recognize your voice!" His brown eyes suddenly went wide, staring into the dark. "You're with the Kaiser! Damn it- Ken, show yourself!"

Ken's voice could be heard laughing, his voice echoing off the metal walls of the vast empty room. "Ken isn't here," he said. "It's just you and I now, Davis. You're in my world. Here, you play by my rules and I always win."

"Wanna bet?!" Davis shouted, grinding his teeth together. He remained defiant and outspoken, even when chained naked to the wall, his feet clambering to touch the ground. "You can't make me play by your rules!"

"Oh, Davis," the Kaiser laughed, "you know so little about my power." A collection of red lights came on, the bulbs spiraling up along the walls of the round citadel. The Kaiser was found to be right in front of Davis, smirking like he always did. "You'll follow my rules blindly like the worthless dog you are." From his back he drew a black ring which he promptly clasped around Davis' neck. A perfect fit.

"No-!" Davis shouted, his words cut short when the ring started to work. The boy screamed, throwing his head back before shaking it violently, eyes clamped shut, trying to resist the dark power of the ring. He did his best not to give in. He had to hold on to his free will. He couldn't become a mindless slave to the Kaiser! It took several minutes of agonized yelling and writhing against the chains before Davis' body finally fell limp. There was a pause of silence where he hung still, and then he lifted his head and opened his eyes, the chocolate brown in milky white all replaced by a glowing red.

The Kaiser stood silent and completely unmoved by the obvious pain the boy was in. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. When everything stopped, he felt a total sense of satisfaction and victory. The Kasier always won. "Davis," he began, "Do you know who I am?"

The boy was silent for a moment, his now red eyes unblinking. After a few seconds, his voice came forth in a strangely dark sounding way. "Master," he said simply.

He smiled wickedly. "Very good, Davis. That kind of recognition deserves a reward." The Kaiser pulled off one of his black gloves and set his bare hand on the tan chest of the body hanging so obediently before him. "Do you like that? Do you like getting attention from your master?"

The head of spiky brown hair nodded slightly, his hands gripping weakly at the chains. "Yes..." He said, again in a simple, dark voice.

"I knew you would. Davis, we're going to play a special game. I programmed all of it myself. You like games, don't you?"

Again, the other boy nodded. "Yes, master. I do."

"Good boy. We need special uniforms for this game. So let's put them on now, okay?" The Kaiser pulled a key from inside the glove he was still wearing, unlocked the cuffs, and let Davis fall to the floor. When the enslaved boy didn't seem to know what to do next, having remained collapsed on the floor, the Kaiser stomped his foot and shouted, "Get up, Davis!" Davis scrambled to his feet when the Kaiser shouted, rising up to his full height, save for a submissive bow of his head. Any bit of free will the boy had been grasping to in the back of his mind had completely dissipated. Davis was definately under the complete control of the dark ring, and it was obvious from the way he stood and the way he'd follow the Kaiser, regardless of where he was lead. The Kaiser sighed slightly, rolling his eyes. It seemed that even when under total control, this kid wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Oh well, sometimes one had to work a little harder for the things they wanted. The Kaiser walked away temporarily to dig around in a trunk for the apparel he'd chosen for his new lackey. He returned and handed the thing over. "Put this on." The body harness presented to Davis started with a collar at the top. Two straps came off the collar to lay over each collarbone, leading down to a set of straps that triangled over either side of his chest. The far corners of the triangle connected to a strap that went around his back, while the inside corners hooked onto a ring which sat in the center of his chest. From that ring was a single strap that went straight down to a second ring located around his navel. From this second ring was a strap that laced around his hips and back. Also from this ring were two more straps that looped and were where his legs were supposed to go through. The looped straps would hug the very top of Davis' thighs and wrap along the inside of his groin, leaving his length exposed.

"Uh..." Davis turned the body harness around in his hands, his glowing red eyes narrowing slightly. He snapped the collar around his neck, and then slipped his arms through what he thought were arm holes, only to find that he now could not physically lift his legs high enough to get them into the harness as well. He grunted with effort as he tried to force his leg up into the leather straps instead of taking the time to realize that he'd put his arms in incorrectly.

The Kaiser watched with wide eyes that actually blinked in disbelief. Davis couldn't possibly be this stupid. "Just... Just take it off," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. The Kaiser took the body harness from the boy, knelt down, and held open the two thighs loops. "Put your legs through here. I can't believe I actually have to dress you like your mother would. You're worthless, Davis. Completely worthless."

"I'm sorry, master," the dark voice said blankly as he followed the instructions and slipped his legs into the correct holes, watching as Ken slipped it up his body and clasped the collar around his neck again.

"There," he grunted, still feeling a little frustrated. "Now just stand there and look pretty while I get ready."

"Yes, master," Davis said, standing himself up and waiting obediently.

The Kaiser returned to the trunk for his own apparel. He stripped of his Kaiser uniform, taking the time to fold them into a neat pile. "Wormmon!"

The little green Digimon came scurrying out. "Yes, master?"

Without a word, the Kaiser dropped the clothes on Wormmon's head, who then scurried out of the room again, taking the uniform with him. The Kaiser then started putting on his 'game clothes.' A black latex halter midfriff zip top and a pair of black vinyl stud side zipper crotch short shorts made up the body. They were accented by a pair of fingerless long latex gloves and vixen's desire stretch platform boots. While his regular whip was tipped with a wooden block embedded with metal spikes, he instead pulled out a regular black whip from the trunk. Finally dressed, the Kaiser went to stand in front of Davis. "So, tell me how I look," he commanded.

Davis looked the Kaiser up and down, but it was impossible to tell that the glowing red voids were shifting. He opened his mouth, and breathed in before saying, "Excellent, master," on the breath he let out.

The Kaiser chuckled. "Yes, I do, don't I?" One hand ran through his spiked hair while a smug smirk played across his lips. "Well, time for the game to begin. Tell me, Davis, do like to play pretend?"

"Yes, master," Davis said, nodding his head slightly as his hands folded behind his back, like he was standing at attention in front of an army general.

"Have you ever pretended to be an animal?"

"I might have once, master."

The Kaiser nodded. "Yes, most children do. Kitties, puppies, birdies, fishies, and the other absurd types. You and I, though, we're going to play pretend with a very special animal. Would you like to know which one, Davis?" he asked with that same wicked smile.

"If you'll tell me, master," Davis said, lowering his head slightly.

The Kaiser looked as though he was pondering this before shaking his head. "No, I think I'll make it a surprise. Follow me," he commanded and walked across the cold metal floor. There was another trunk in the spot they walked to, which he promptly opened and pulled out a bit gag trainer. "Open your mouth." Davis did as he was told, opening his mouth. "Good." He put the bit in Davis' open mouth, the two large rings resting against his cheek bones and jawline, and the strap click around the back of his head. The Kaiser then took out a headband from the trunk; a headband with large upright donkey ears on it. "Can you guess what you're going to be, Davis?" he asked, waving the ears.

Davis choked around the bit, finding it hard to speak around it at first. "A..." he started, looking at the ears. "A donkey?"

"Very good!" he said rather cheerfully. The Kaiser put the ears on Davis' head and stood back. He rather liked seeing Davis dressed as the ass he really was. The Kaiser just kept smiling at Davis, almost praisingly, luring him into a momentary feeling of relaxation. Davis just looked back, his red eyes unblinking, his teeth clenched painfully around the bit, trying to get used to having it shoved into his mouth. "Whinny for me, Davis."

"Whinny?"

All of his amusement was gone. The Kaiser frowned and cracked his whip fiercely. "I said whinny, Davis!" Davis jumped, forcing out a whinnying sound that sounded like a pony in pain. This pleased the Kaiser. "Nicely done, Davis." The Kaiser walked forward and placed his hand on Davis' chest again, and this time he moved his bare fingers over the flesh, down the boy's hip to the top of his thigh. "Keep it up, yes?"

Davis inhaled sharply at the contact, shifting his hips slightly under the Kaiser's fingers. "Yes, master..."

"Of course. You don't really have a choice, after all, do you?" Without really looking for an answer, the Kaiser just laughed. "I'm going to get another toy." Back at the chest he rummaged around and eventually pulled out four different length steel bars. The first long bar was placed vertically on the floor in front of Davis. The second slightly shorter bar with cuffs was connected horizontally to the first one at the top, and another one, smaller than the second, was connected horizontally at the bottom, also with cuffs. Finally, a fourth bar about the same length as the second was screwed into the first bar, standing up verticaly, and located near the top. "Now on your hands and knees over this bar," the Kaiser instructed, cracking his whip again for authoritative purposes. Davis nodded, at once moving to do as he was told. He straddled his legs on either side of the bar and got on his hands and knees, kneeling, forced to keep his arms straight as the vertical bar pressed against his neck.

The Kaiser knelt down beside Davis. "Now hold still." Davis' wrists were placed in the cuffs of the longer top bar and his ankles were strapped into the cuffs of the the bottom bar. Lastly, the collar was attached to the ring on the bar that stood straight up from the long one. The Kaiser stood up and grinned down at the position and appearance of the boy he'd hated for so long now. The humiliation was outstanding, and he loved it. "Comfy?"

It was a completely degrading position, and if Davis had his free will in tact, he would have been bucking and writhing against the stockade stand, trying fruitlessly to get free. But with that red glow in his eyes, he just looked over at the Kaiser and nodded submissively. "Yes, master. Thank you."

The Kaiser smiled for only a few seconds before his face turned cold. "Bray, Davis," he commanded sternly.

"...Bray?" The boy asked, looking confused.

"Yes, Davis, bray!" the Kaiser screamed. "How thick is your head?! Bray like a donkey!" He cracked the whip, the tip of it just grazing the boy's arm. When the whip hit his skin, Davis made a high pitched groaning noise that just barely sounded like the braying noise he was supposed to be imitating. Even though it had just grazed his skin, the boy was taken enough by surprise that it made him jump and groan loudly in reaction. But he wanted to please the Kaiser for reasons that would normally escape him, and made another noise that sounded more like the donkey the Kaiser was making him out to be. There was no praise this time. The Kaiser just cracked the whip. "Again, Davis!" Davis made the sound again, more defined this time, choking against the bit. His red eyes closed for the first time since they'd began to glow that color with effort, straining to make it as perfect as he could. "Again!" He cracked the whip even harder, louder. "Again, Davis!" Davis' nails scraped across the dungeon floor, his back legs kicking only as much as the stockade would allow, which was barely anything at all, just a tiny clink of the bolts that held it together. He made the noise twice, three times again, a vein rising in his very slightly muscled arms as he leaned forward with effort, but found his wrists could not move.

Once again, a smile spread across the Kaiser's face. Oh, how delicious this was. Seeing this boy at his mercy, making a total fool of himself with no choice, yet still suffering, made the sadist's spirit soar. The Kaiser had wanted this for so long. He wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. He also wanted to torture Davis, not just humiliate him. Pausing, letting Davis think perhaps the moment was over, he took the brief respite to pull his arm back over his head. With a sharp snap of his wrist, the whip snapped forward and bit the flesh on the bound boy's back. "Agh!" Davis groaned loudly in pain, the tan skin almost instantly heating up a tortured red. Weakly, the boy brayed again, his hands clenching into fists against the sting of the whip.

"You're pathetic! You are nothing!" He struck again and whipped down the length of Davis' back. "You are only an insignificant, infuriating, infantile insect!"

Davis screamed, the sound muffled by the bit, choking out another bray before he groaned, "Y-yes master! You're right, master!"

"Damn right, I'm right!" The Kaiser whipped Davis again and again and again. He made sure to make it hurt, even hitting the same spots so many times that the skin broke open and started to bleed. "I am going to break you, Davis! You will learn your place! You will learn just how far underneath me you are and that you have no hope of ever rising above me! Tell me how utterly wretched you are! Tell me!"

"I-I am!" Davis screamed, tears starting to leak from his glowing red eyes when blood dripped down his back onto the dungeon floor. "I'm wretched! I'm below you, master!"

Suddenly the whipping stopped. The Kaiser walked up to Davis, kneeling down and setting the whip aside. He unfastened the bit and took it from his mouth. Those gloved hands cupped the boy's jaw, fingers brushing behind his ears, and the Kaiser offered a strange smile. "You were very good, Davis. I am pleased. Would you like a kiss from your master?"

Davis breathed heavily, mustily, sweat speckling on his brow, dripping off that tan skin in beads just as the tears and blood did. "Yes," he said in nothing more than a whisper. "Yes master, if you would. More than anything..."

"All right, you earned it." The Kaiser moved forward and let his cool lips press against warm tan lips. The taste of sweat and blood that had splattered there from the thrashing of the whip tasted like sugar and honey to the Kaiser. He would taste Davis like this again very soon. When he pulled back, he smiled at Davis gently, but with sick affection. "I'm going to leave now. I have things to do, but you can be with me later." The Kaiser went to one of the doors that opened in the wall. "Wormmon!"

Davis watched the Kaiser leave with unblinking red eyes, not even protesting as he was left kneeling on his hands and knees. Wormmon crawled up to the door out of the shadows, his big eyes looking up at the Kaiser with that same sad obedience they always had. "Yes?"

"Did you get all of that?"

"Yes, master. It's all on the security tapes."

He reached inside his boot and threw the skeleton key to Wormmon. "Release him and take him to a cell. Make sure you put salve on his wounds. I don't want him to scar right away. I'm going to be working. Do. Not. Bother me," the Kaiser said firmly and walked away into the shadows.

Wormmon fumbled with the key, holding it oddly in his little clawed hands. He bowed his head solemnly, crawling over to Davis and undoing the locks. He looked at the glowing red eyes and shivered slightly, looking down. "I'm sorry he's doing this to you," he whispered in his warbled voice, before continuing his work, setting Davis free from the cuffs and leading him down to a cell to bandage him up.


	6. Unbridled Hatred

The Kaiser watched his many screens which monitored the Digital World and everything that went on there. He laughed as he watched the Digidestined wander the world's many planes in search of their lost companion. Such a futile attempt. They would never find him, not when he was locked up in the deepest chambers of his citadel. The Kaiser would hold Davis for as long as he desired. He had too much planned for the boy to just let him go. In fact, his friends would probably never get him back. The Kaiser had slept miraculously well last night. Torturing Davis had relaxed him and put him in such a wonderful mood. But now it was time to play with his prisoner again. There was so much more fun to be had. "Wormmon!" he barked, calling in his ever loyal Digimon.

Wormmon approached with that same sad look on his face, but this morning, it looked more worried than usual. "Yes?" He asked as he approached from out of the shadows, tapping his tiny front claws together. He'd been watching the screens too, and the poor little Digimon only felt sorry for the other Digidestined as they yelled and searched for Davis fruitlessly. He especially felt bad for poor Veemon, who seemed the most concerned and broken up about it. But Ken had only seemed to find it funny, and it tore poor Wormmon up. Still, he said nothing and just did as he was told.

"I want you to prepare Davis for me," he said in a voice that dripped with sick delight. "No body harness today, but I want a collar and a leash. Have him standing outside his cell waiting for me in fifteen minutes." As the little Digimon began to scurry away, the Kaiser warned, "Oh and Wormmon, if I find you trying to set him free, I will make you live to regret it. Are we clear?"

Wormmon jumped slightly, turning around and bowing his head all the way down to the ground. "Yes, master. Of course." He then scurried off to the holding cells, passing by all of the Digimon with glowing red eyes sitting inside, the collar and leash he was asked to fetch trailing along him through the hallway. He finally came to the one with Davis, who was sitting back against the far wall, staring forward with those glowing red eyes. He hadn't blinked or slept all night, and it had worried Wormmon to no end. But still, the boy didn't seem to be tired or nodding off, and all he was doing was staring at the bars of the cell. Maybe he had slept with his eyes open. Wormmon unsurely let himself into the cell, passing the body harness hanging on the door, and made his way over to Davis, putting on the collar and then dragging him out to wait outside.

The Kaiser had gone to his own chambers to change into his own leather attire. His fingers tingled with excitement. He had wanted to play this particular game the first night, but decided to spread the fun out over time. So now the Kaiser was walking down the halls carrying his faithful whip. He grinned when he saw the tan-skinned boy standing at attention and waiting for him. "Good morning, Davis. Are you ready to play again?" he asked with a strangely cheerful grin. The Kaiser was thinking about all the fun they were going to have. Well... the fun he was going to have.

Davis turned his head to look at the Kaiser, his hands folded neatly behind his back. He nodded, saying, "Yes, master. I am ready when you are."

He chuckled. "That's a good answer." The Kaiser took the leash from Wormmon and began down the hall. "Remember to make sure the recording is on," he said sternly. "I want all of this recorded. If I find out you left the camera off on purpose, you will be punished severly." The Kaiser lead Davis through the many turns, stairs, and halls of the citadel, until finally coming upon the same room from before. Hanging from the ceiling was a fantasy swing, suspended by a heavy weight spring and hook. "Davis, do you know what that is?"

Davis' red eyes swept over the swooping black straps suspended from the ceiling. He then looked back at the Kaiser, shaking his head slightly. "No, master. I don't."

"That's alright," he said, patting the boy on the head. "You'll find out soon enough. First, though, I want you to do something for me."

"Anything, master," Davis said plainly, his hands once again behind his back in a ready position.

"Touch me, Davis," the Kaiser said firmly. "Put your hands on my hips."

Davis looked over at the Kaiser, and then took a step forward, his hands coming to rest on either side of the Kaiser's hips. "Like this, master?"

The Kaiser nodded. "Yes, just like that, good. Now I want you to kiss my neck. After that you will kiss my shoulder and then my jaw."

Davis nodded obediently, leaning forward and pressing his lips against the Kaiser's pale neck. They moved smoothly down to his shoulder for a second kiss, and then jumped up to peck feverishly under his jaw, instead of leaning forward, now moving himself closer.

The Kaiser purred darkly with delight. He was sure if Davis was conscious, the boy would be cringing with anger, hatred, and embarrassment. Instead... "Are you enjoying this, Davis?"

"Yes, master," The boy breathed without hesitation, his hands better gripping the Kaiser's hips and his lips still kissing at the pale skin between those three spots, continuously alternating. The Kaiser just grinned. He put his finger underneath Davis' lips to guide them lower, down to his collar bone and even further down to the center of his chest between the halter straps. Davis' mouth moved as the Kaiser directed it, moving steadily lower as the other boy guided them, just glowing red eyes sliding shut as his lips pressed against the pale flesh.

The Kaiser tilted his head back. Admittedly, he was finding some pleasure in this. It was only natural in the end. "Davis," he said deeply, "You want to please your master, don't you? You want to make me happy, right?"

"Yes, of course, master," Davis murmured, as his knees started to bend in order to bring his lips lower.

"Then come. It's time for the next part of our game." The Kaiser took the leash again and lead the boy to the swing. He removed the collar so he could get Davis situated. A leather arch connected to the hook and from either end of the arch hung the straps. His wrists were strapped into the cuffs. From each cuff was another three straps: one supporting Davis' back, the second going under his thighs, and the third was for strapping his calves into. "Comfy?" he asked, much he did with the device they had used the previous night. The Kaiser just liked hearing Davis say he liked being in mortifying positions.

Davis shifted slightly, swinging slightly from where he hung in the laid back sitting position. "Yes, master," he finally answered after a short pause, nodding his head, staring at the Kaiser with glowing red eyes.

"Good, you need to be." The Kaiser dropped the dreadful whip to the floor and his hands moved to his vest. "Answer me honestly, Davis. Do you love your master?"

Davis watched the Kaiser intently as his hands laid across the shining vest. "Yes, master." Davis lowered his head a bit more in a submissive manner, "I love you."

He began pulling the zipper down the front of his vest, slowly exposing his pale, slightly toned chest. "And do you think your master loves you?"

"I don't know, master." Davis lifted himself feebly in the restraints to watch the Kaiser removing his vest. "I do not think about it. I can know only if you tell me."

The Kaiser nodded. "Fair enough." He let the vest fall away, leaving his chest bare. "But do you want your master to love you? Would you like it if I loved you, too?"

Davis was quiet for a while, his glowing red eyes focused on the Kaiser's chest. He actually seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle, the crimson shine dimming slightly, then coming back to it's full glory. Again, it dimmed, and he shook his head, reopening his eyes, once again fully glowing red. "Y-yes, master," he finally managed. "I would like i-if you loved me too."

The Kaiser frowned slightly when the red glow of Davis' eyes began to flicker and fade. The power of the ring should not have been failing and Davis should not have been anywhere strong enough to break free of its control. So when the glow returned, he smiled triumphantly. "Then you have to earn it," he said. The Kaiser then walked forward and climbed into the swing as well, sitting and straddling himself over Davis' lap.

Davis inhaled sharply, his hands coming to grasp the straps they were tied into. "I will try my best to if you will tell me how."

"Well, you're off to a great start." The Kaiser laid his palms flat over Davis' chest and then moved his hips forward to get the swing going, but just slightly. "I want you to sing my praises, Davis. Tell me all the ways I am great and powerful. Tell how much better I am than you and every other insignificant human on the filthy dirt ball you call home. Do this and I will reward you."

Davis' eyes only barely faltered as he swung very gently, keeping his red eyes on the Kaiser's face. "It's difficult to decide what to say when it's so obvious, master," he started, trying his best to grasp the words out of his mind. Even under the Kaiser's control, he was not very eloquent.

The Kaiser growled. "You're disappointing me, Davis," he said and dug his nails into dark flesh.

Davis hissed slightly, his own hands tightening around the straps of the swing. "You're so strong, and a genius... it's no wonder you're doing so well with taking over this world... We won't be able to stop you, master." He was still flinching as the nails dug into his skin.

The Kaiser trilled with delight. "That's more like it." He withdrew his nails and instead began stroking Davis' chest. "And you're right; your friends have no real hope of stopping me. Without you, they will most likely fall apart. I'm not sure how, but you seem to have become the leader of the chosen children. A foolish and pointless turn of events, really. But it doesn't matter now. Now you are mine."

"That's right..." Davis murmured, unblinking red eyes watching the Kaiser with an unreadable expression, his darkened voice sounding slightly dazed. "Now I'm yours." Now the Kaiser just laughed. The Kaiser leaned forward, putting his mouth to Davis' shoulder, and biting hard. He didn't really feel like granting the courtesy of kisses or even gentle licks from his tongue before jumping into the torture from his teeth. He'd shown Davis enough grace already anyway. It was time to play the way the Kaiser wanted to play. Davis groaned, his back arching a bit up from the swing. Regardless of what he was expecting, this was what he got, and regardless of what he might have wanted if he was conscious, the only want he could feel now was the want for whatever the Kaiser would give him next.

The Kaiser pulled back, licking the blood from his teeth. "You like being tortured by me, don't you, Davis?" His hand shot forward and grabbed at the boy's short bangs, yanking them back roughly. "You enjoy all the pain and agony I cause you. You want more."

"Y-yes master," Davis choked as his head was pulled back painfully, "I enjoy it... I want more..." Taking advantage of Davis' head being pulled back, the Kaiser sank his teeth into his neck. Feeling the warm flesh break apart, hearing the blood squelch, and tasting everything this human was made of filled the Kaiser with a sense of deep satisfaction and power. How he'd longed for this experience. He would break Davis down piece by piece until there was nothing left and he would be the ultimate victor, as it was destined to be. Davis cried out in pain, his whole body stiffening at the feeling of teeth in his neck. He could feel blood trickling down his tan skin, and his mouth opened to say something, but two parts of his mind were fighting with what words he'd say. There was a very tiny shred of conscious that fought for him to resist, but the power of the dark ring was too much. "Y-yes!" The boy gasped instead, "Th-thank you, master..."

The Kaiser could hear the faintest traces of resistance, and it pleased him. Knowing Davis was helpless against his power pleased him. There was a little piece of Davis deep down that was consciously suffering. Perfect. "Time to bring out a new toy," he said.

Davis inhaled sharply, trying to regain his composure as the blood dripped onto the chamber floors from his shoulder. "Okay, master," he breathed.

The Kaiser got up off of Davis and went to a new chest. He rummaged around inside until he pulled out a 6 inch chrome stimulator. There was a place for a power cord to be attached, but it seemed he had found new ways to power the device. "I wouldn't expect you to know what this, but you'll find out soon enough. This is going to be the best part," the Kaiser said as he climbed atop Davis once more.

Davis just watched expectantly, his gaze curiously following the Kaiser as he moved. His eyes flickered towards the object, but strangely, he seemed more intent on looking back at the Kaiser's face to say, "You move very gracefully, master."

This caught him a bit off guard. Most of his slaves never said anything like on their own. Usually he had to coax it out of them with questions or orders. "Thank you, Davis." The Kaiser leaned over and graced the boy's lips with a brief kiss. He'd earned it, but the comment wouldn't save him from what was to come.

Davis hummed happily, leaning back in the swing with an odd look of bliss on his face. "No need to thank me, master..." he sighed, "it's true."

The Kaiser was deeply confused by this. Was Davis trying to trick him? No... He wasn't conscious enough for that, and even if he was, he would hardly be smart enough. He saw that the stimulator was ready and turned it on, setting off small waves of electricity through its chrome surface. The Kaiser leaned forward, reached behind Davis with his right hand to position the device, and then whispered in the boy's ear, "Davis, I'm going to hurt you now."

Davis inhaled sharply, his hands tightening around the straps again. "That's okay, master. I'm ready," he murmured, not sounding ready, despite what he said.

"Scream, Davis." Without a moment's hesitation, the Kaiser forced the stimulator up inside Davis. He granted no mercy in the form of preparation or a slow pace. He was fast, forceful, ferocious. The stimulator was pushed in as far as it could go, and he held it there to let the electricity to its job. Davis let forth an ear splitting screech, surprise at the sudden shock tearing the sound out of his throat. His whole body tensed up and he writhed, his whole upper torso swinging to the opposite side that his lower body did, making him twist his body in a way only an athlete could do in mid-air. The Kaiser gripped Davis' hip roughly so he could keep his balance. Davis' writhing nearly threw him off, and that would not have been good. So the Kaiser just bore down, holding fast and using all the force he had in him. The scream was like the most beautiful melody to ever meet his ears. Causing this much pain, fear, and total suffering for Davis had only been a sweet dream until now. "You brought this upon your self, Davis," he hissed.

"Ohhh..." Davis groaned in pain, shivering, his red eyes clenching shut. The absence of their glowing depths took away from the blank expression on his face, and it twisted into one of more human pain. That tiny scrap of consciousness he retained was screaming the loudest as another screech ripped out of his throat.

The stimulator was drawn out and then shoved back in, strong and swift. "You earned this, Davis," the Kaiser growled, voice getting louder. "You got in my way so many times! You foiled so many of my plans!" Again, out and in. "You made a mockery of me! You made me look like a fool! You meddled your way into my business!" Out and in. Out and in. Out and in. "Everything you did to me, I will give back ten fold! You will feel my shame in the form of unbridled pain!"

"Hnn! Aaah!" Davis screamed, his eyes squeezed shut so tightly, tears starting to leak out of them. They rolled down his face, which was turning red from the sheer shocking pain.

"You are a worm! You are shit! You are nothing!" The Kaiser shouted this right into Davis' ear, making sure he would hear and remember every word that was spoken. His nails dug into the boy's side were he gripped for balance. "I will ruin you, Davis! I will break you until you are nothing but an empty shell! Do you hear me?!"

"I-I h-h-aah! H-hear you, m-m-nnhgh... m-m-m-master!" Davis only barely managed, writhing and bending backwards in the swing, stretching his flexible body so far back that his muscles strained and his hair brushed against the floor below them.

Power, excitement, and adrenaline were fueling his rage, his passion, his fury. Everything the Kaiser had ever wanted was happening right here, right now. "I hate you!" he screeched. "I hate you so much! I hate your face! I hate your hopes! I hate your happiness! You will lose everything! When I am done with you, you will only know sorrow, agony, and loneliness! I will crush your hopes and dreams into nothing! That is how much I hate you!"

"Agh! I-I-I'm sorry!" Davis screamed, more tears falling from his eyes, splattering against the chamber floors. The thrusting, the electricity, and the sheer power the Kaiser put into what he was doing to the poor boy was nearly overwhelming.

"Sorry isn't good enough, Davis! Sorry will never be good enough!"

"Wh-what do I- aaagh! Have to do!?" he sobbed loudly, his voice cracking with pain.

"Die, Davis! I want you to die!" Davis didn't have an answer for that. He just shivered against the restraints, and slowly, his agonized screams seemed to quiet slightly. He was reduced to a crying, shaking mess, occasionally letting out groans of pain. Such a pathetic and disgusting sight. Without Davis' loud screams, there was nothing to drive the Kaiser on. The music was gone. Besides, Davis had broken down into the sniveling heap he'd been driving for. The Kaiser withdrew the stimulator and turned it off, just dropping it to the metal floor with a loud clatter. He undid the straps, letting Davis then fall to the floor in a heap as well. It was good enough. "Wormmon!"

"Auh..." Davis groaned, shaking on the floor.

Wormmon seemed to take a moment, but he soon appeared in the doorway of the chambers, looking sadly on at the boy on the floor. "Yes, master...?" he asked hesitantly.

"Put him back in his cell. No kindness this time. I want him to feel it tomorrow." With that, the Kaiser walked out of the room and into the shadows of the citadel.


	7. Escape

The Kaiser had left a few hours before. One of his many obligations in the real world called him back there, but not without a load of grumbling from the child genius. As much as he wanted to put his plan into action, Wormmon waited nearly an hour before acting. When he was sure his master wasn't going to return, he scurried off to the holding cells. A key was clenched in his front claws while Davis' clothes were folded in a neat pile and balanced on his head. When the little green Digimon got to the right cell, he peered in at the boy. "Davis?" he ventured in his timid warble of a voice.

Davis was huddled in a corner. He'd taken quite a lot of abuse from the Kaiser, and it showed. He was covered in bruises and cuts that were left to bleed. His hair was messy and his skin was slick with sweat and blood. He shivered slightly and looked up when his name was called, glowing red eyes unblinking despite the pain that would normally force them closed. "Yes?" came his strangely monotone voice.

Wormmon shivered at the sight and sound of the boy. Even though he'd been so brutally broken, he was still flat like a drone. "We're changing locations," was all Wormmon said before unlocking the iron door. He scurried inside and set the clothes down on the floor. "Get dressed, and please hurry."

Davis looked confused, his eyes traveling to the clothing, and then to Wormmon. "Does... master want me dressed?" he asked, unsureness very subtly creeping into his otherwise bland tone.

Wormmon nodded. "Yes, Davis. The master wants you to be dressed. You've been very good, so he wants to reward you. He has something very special planned, but it's a surprise. I'm going to take you to it," he said, hoping the lie would fly by the enslaved mind.

"Oh... okay," Davis said, nodding. He reached forward and took the clothing in shaking hands, putting on his boxers, his shorts, and his shirt. The blood soaked right through the clothing, but Davis just continued to get dressed. First his socks, then his shoes which he had a little trouble tying up. He then threw on his jacket, put on his gloves, and slid his goggles into place, all of this in a very robotic and slow manner. He then rose to his feet and walked over to Wormmon to stand in front of him, his entire posture stiff and unmoving save for the obviously pained slouch of his shoulders.

The little pincer mouth clicked worriedly. Blood just soaked through everywhere. Maybe he should have cleaned and bandaged the boy first... Except there wasn't enough gauranteed time for all that. "I'm sorry, Davis," he mumbled softly before speaking up. "All right. Follow me." Wormmon scuttled to the open door, looked both ways down the corridor, and then led the boy. Normally Wormmon's limited pace angered the Kaiser, but it was perfect for Davis' aching stride. They took the many halls, twist, turns, and stairs through the citadel before finally reaching an exit point. "It's going to be bright," Wormmon warned as he hit a button to open the door. Davis' eyes squinted slightly against the light as the door slid open, but otherwise those glowing red voids didn't seem too affected. He followed the Digimon out of the citadel, which had been landed amongst high trees that guarded it from sight. Davis didn't make a sound, just turned his head slightly to look around him before focusing on the little Digimon again, waiting for instructions. After making sure they were far enough away from the Kaiser's base, Wormmon turned to face the boy. "All right, Davis, this is the place. Sit down by this tree here. Go slowly. Be careful." Wormmon dug around in the pockets of Davis' shorts to retrieve the Digivice and D-Terminal. First he typed up a message to the other children, supposing to be from Davis, and then hit a little button on the Digivice to activate the homing signal. "Now you wait here and the master will be here soon, okay?" He waited for the boy to respond, not wanting to suddenly return consciousness to his mind without completing the farce.

Davis had done as he was told, and now held the Digivice and D-Terminal in his lap, nodding at Wormmon's words. "Okay... I'll wait," he murmured, nodding.

"Good. Just one last thing. And Davis... Ken didn't mean any of it." With that, Wormmon reached up with his claws and removed the dark ring from around Davis' neck. He took advantage of the brief haze to dart into some nearby bushes where he would be out of sight. Even though hurrying back to the citadel would have been the best thing for himself, Wormmon stuck around to make sure Davis was found by his friends.

The red glow instantly died from Davis' eyes, revealing bloodshot brown eyes beneath. His consciousness didn't seem to register until his whole body suddenly flinched with pain and he hissed loudly, looking down and seeing the blood seeping through his clothing. "What the hell happened...?" he asked himself weakly, trying to get up, only to fall back with a quiet yelp of pain, leaning back against the tree he'd been left against.

Nearly twenty minutes went by before anyone found him. First there were voices off in the distances, but soon they grew closer and more distinct. "I think I see him!" the youngest of the voices called out. Indeed it was Cody who first came upon the scene. He stopped dead in his tracks about two feet from Davis, though, face gone pale and eyes wide with shock.

TK came running up behind. "Cody, why'd you stop?" Blue eyes followed the little one's gaze and he flinched. "Oh man..." TK rushed forward and knelt down in front of his companion. "Davis? Davis, can you hear me?"

Davis had started to doze off, exhausted from the past couple of days. But the blond's voice roused him, and he rolled his head towards the group as they approached, his bloodshot eyes opening again. He blinked at them for a moment, needing time for his eyes to focus, but then he managed a weak grin. "You guys found me..." he breathed. Kari was the next to join the group, followed by Yolei and all of the Digimon.

"Davis, what happened to you?" Kari asked, coming to crouch in front of him next to TK.

"Kari, I-" Davis started, his eyes darting over to her and excitement bubbling up in his quiet voice. But he suddenly stopped, the words dying on his lips, and his brow wrinkled with confusion as he stared at her.

"Davis? Davis, what is it? What happened?" Kari asked.

Davis suddenly shook his head and said, "I-I don't remember."

"Davis!" Veemon cried out and ran up to the boy. "Davis! You're really hurt!" He wanted to reach out and touch his boy, but the blue clawed hands remained clenched at his side. "I wasn't there to protect you, Davis. I'm really sorry. I'm the worst Digimon! I should have been able to save you!"

TK tried to hush Veemon before looking back at his friend. "The Kaiser trapped you, Davis. He tricked you and then kidnapped you. We've been looking everywhere for you for almost a week. You really don't remember anything? Anything at all?"

"Don't ask him that!" Veemon barked. "We should be helping Davis, not make him relive what the Kaiser did! Whatever it was... For Davis to be hurt this badly..." His whole body stiffened. "Davis..."

Davis watched his Digimon with surprise painted on his face, but he managed a weak smile, reaching his arm out slowly and patting Veemon on the head. "Don't say that, buddy. You're the best, you know that. You did everything you could have." He tried to pick himself up again, but the boy groaned and slouched against the tree again, directing his words now to TK. "I don't remember a thing. I do... remember the part with the sand opening up..." he squinted one of his eyes slightly, trying to recall what happened. "That was a week ago?" he asked. "It feels like it happened like, an hour ago. I don't remember anything between now and then."

TK nodded. "We'll worry about all of that later. Right now, we need to find a way to get you home. Think you'll be okay if I carry you on my back?"

Davis bit his lip, but straightened himself up a bit and extended his arms. "Give it a t-try," he said. Again TK nodded. He turned his back, still crouched low to the ground, and let Davis lean against him. When those arms were secure around his neck, TK slipped his own arms under Davis' legs, bringing them about his waist, and started to stand up. "Agh!" When Davis' legs were pulled onto either side of TK, it made a sharp pain shoot through his insides.

"Davis, are you okay?" Kari asked. "We can think of another method..."

"No, no," Davis said, his eyes closed as he shook his head. "No, I'm fine. L-let's just get back."

Veemon flinched when Davis screamed. There were even tears pricking his red eyes. TK was about to suggest another method as well, but he quickly realized that the longer they waited, the longer Davis would be in pain. So he started walking, making sure not to go too fast, but fast enough to get Davis home. Once through the gate, the children realized it was fairly late. Cody and Yolei didn't want to abandon their friend, but their families would start to worry about them before long. Kari insisted on staying as well, but TK convinced her to go home. She shouldn't have to see Davis like this. TK's first thought was to take Davis to see Joe, but the older boy's brothers would probably be home. This would be hard to explain. Wait... brother! "Just hang on a little longer, okay Davis?" TK took off. While Yamato wasn't an expert in first aid, their dad was almost never home so they could tend to Davis without interruptions. Soon he was at the apartment and kicking on the front door. "Yamato! Yamato, let me in!"

The door creaked open, and Yamato, half dressed and half in his pajamas, practically jumped out of the way when TK, Patamon, and DemiVeemon rushed into his foyer. "TK, what's-" he started to ask, only for his eyes to land on Davis and his blue eyes to go wide. "What the hell happened to him?!"

"The Kaiser kidnapped him a week ago, and we just found him like this," Patamon explained in his high-pitched voice, his ears flapping quickly as he hovered over the others.

"Oh, geez..."

"I didn't know where else to go," said TK. "I wouldn't know what to tell anyone else. You can help us, right, Yamato?" the boy pleaded.

"Please help Davis!" DemiVeemon squeaked from down around Yamato's ankles.

The younger blond nodded. "You know... Just clean him up? Get some bandages on him?"

Yamato looked a little lost, but still nodded and gestured towards his bedroom. "Lay him down while I go get some stuff," he said, before hurrying off to the bathroom to retrieve the items he needed.

TK moved to the bedroom as directed and carefully laid Davis down on the floor mattress. "Davis? Davis, my brother is going to help fix you up. Don't worry about your parents. They think you and I are working on a school project together at my place this week." The boy laughed a little. "They said as long as you come home with an A, they were fine with it." DemiVeemon was up by Davis' head, whimpering softly and petting the boy's cheek.

Davis laughed as well, his eyes fluttering between being opened and closed. But eventually, he couldn't fight the call to close his eyes. Patamon landed on top of TK's head, peering over the edge of the blond's hat to look down at Davis with a deep frown. "I've never even seen the Kaiser get this violent with the Digimon," he commented quietly.

The boy nodded with his own frown. "He must really have something against Davis. I mean, we fell into his traps too, but nothing happened to us." TK clenched his fists in his lap. "The Kaiser's gonna pay for this, though. He can't just go around hurting Digimon and people like this." He started to take off Davis' shoes, gloves, goggles. Just the little things. He would let Yamato decide if the clothes really needed to come off or not. "I just wish we had found him sooner."

"Yeah..." Patamon just nodded sadly. Yamato came into the room a few minutes later, looking at the blood soaking through Davis' clothes. Just to see what the wounds were like, he took off the boy's jacket and shirt, folding them and placing them aside. Even though Davis' clothing changed when he left the Digital World, his regular clothing had also been soaked into as they travelled to Yamato's house, so the blond would wash his clothing and give the boy something clean to wear. The front of Davis' body didn't look so bad. His chest was bruised up a bit, but nothing worse. Yamato put a hand on Davis' shoulder, realizing he'd fallen asleep, and turned him over onto his stomach. Davis' back was where the real mess was. Long, thin gashes ran horizontally and diagonally along his back. Yamato bit his lip, but silently began to clean the wounds.

"Oh... Oh man..." TK covered his mouth. There had been so much blood, but... He still didn't expect this. What the hell did that Kaiser bastard do to him? TK swallowed as he watched his brother clean and dress the wounds. How could Davis not remember what happened to him? TK was sure he would remember if someone beat him and slashed him to ribbons. Maybe... Maybe Davis had blocked it all out? Like those trauma victims. But why would the Kaiser suddenly give Davis up? Was it a message? He probably wanted the other kids to find their companion and know he meant business. Why did it have to be Davis, though? Sure the kid was little arrogant and obnoxious sometimes, but he hardly deserved this. "Um... His legs were hurting him too. Davis couldn't even get up, and when I lifted him, he made a really pained noise." TK watched his brother reach for Davis' shorts. Blue eyes widened when he saw all the dark bruises on Davis' thighs under his boxers. The sight of heavy bleeding and something else staining the fabric sent TK running to the bathroom where he emptied his stomach into the toilet. DemiVeemon watched all of this. He didn't understand exactly what had happened to his boy, but the other child's reaction got him upset enough to start crying through little squeaks and sniffles.

While Yamato's stomach was stronger than his little brother's, it still turned at the state of Davis' lower half. Suddenly, Yamato had a good idea of what might have happened. "Poor kid," he murmured as he went back to cleaning away the mess of liquids, clearing Davis' skin.

Patamon had began to hover again when TK ran out of the room. "He said he doesn't remember any of it."

"That may be for his own good," Yamato said, shaking his head as he found the cloth he was using so soaked in blood that he had to use a different one. "I don't think he'd want to remember whatever got him to this point."

"Yamato..." TK came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. He smelled like mouthwash and his hat had fallen off his head. "Yamato, this is crazy. The Kaiser... he's our age. He's just a kid! What would make him do this? I mean... the Digimon we faced back in the day seemed scary enough, but.... This guy is a whole other monster. We can't just attack and destroy him, Yamato. Wh-What do we do?"

"I don't know what you tell you, TK. I haven't faced anything like this before, either." Yamato's blue eyes kept focused on clean off Davis' skin. Every splotch of blood cleaned up just revealed a bruise or open gash beneath it that needed dressing. "Something must have really twisted this kid. He's got a serious problem." He finally looked over at his brother as TK came to sit beside him again, once most of the blood was sopped up into three different cloths. "I'd say that if he was made to realize his error he may stop, but I don't think that would work... just because this is so severe."

TK drew his legs to his chest, arms wrapped around them and chin on his knees. "I don't want Kari to be next... or Yolei. Cody... He's so small. It would probably kill him. Sure I'd take their place, but... but... I really don't want it to happen to me either. Yamato, it almost makes me feel like giving up."

"No!" the tiny voice of DemiVeemon squeaked angrily. "We can't give up! I won't give up! Davis went through this for us! He thought the Kaiser was going to feed you to a Digimon, so he offered himself instead!" DemiVeemon stood up, little tears on his white cheeks. "He was going to sacrifice himself for all of you! Then the Kaiser kidnapped him! Davis did it for you!" In a fit of sorrow and anger, the tiny blue Digimon started hitting TK's leg with his little paws. "You can't give up! Not after what Davis did for you! You can't! You can't!"

TK watched the little Digimon with sad eyes. "DemiVeemon..."

"And if you gave up, what then?" Yamato asked, as he continued to wrap bandages around the gashes through tan skin. "That would just be putting you at his mercy to do all of this. If anything, TK, this should make you want to fight harder." He looked at his brother, sympathy in his eyes. "I understand that it's scary, but we've looked at death in the face so many times and come out the winners. But if you quit just because someone got hurt, you're just giving the enemy even more of a chance to put the rest of you in the same position Davis is in now."

TK was silent, thinking about all of that. He was still afraid knowing the enemy was flesh and blood like him, but Yamato's words rang true. Giving up... Letting the Kaiser win... Would only mean more pain and suffering for others. Maybe even worse than what happened to Davis. ...If that was possible. Finally the younger blond nodded. "You're right. Fighting back is the only way to prevent further damage. We'll keep going. For Davis. For everyone."


	8. A Stronger Project

The Kaiser arrived back at his citadel. It was nearly evening back home, but he had to get away. All his obligations had kept him away for far too long. Worse was that it had just been one publicity show after another. A waste of his time. He walked down the corridor of the prison ward, passing all the cells of enslaved Digimon, his sights set on the cell at the end. Only when he got there, it was empty. The Kaiser grabbed the bars of the door, gripping tightly and grinding his teeth. "Wormmon!"

Wormmon heard the infuriated yell, and began to scuttle as fast as he could towards the prison block. He'd done everything he could have to make it look like Davis had escaped on his own. He'd taken the Dark Ring and banged open both the lock to the cell Davis had been in and the lock on the store room where his clothing had been kept. Wormmon had then deposited the banged up ring in the corner of the cell. He hoped that was enough. As the little green Digimon approached, he tapped his front claws together nervously. "Yes? What's wrong?"

"What happened? Where is Davis?!" he demanded furiously. "You were supposed to watch him! How did he get out?!"

"H-he managed to overpower the ring, master," Wormmon lied. "I tried to release one of the slaves to stop him, but he knocked me out against the wall as he ran past before I could." Rage was boiling up inside the Kaiser. His fists shook against the bars and he felt his blood heating under his skin. But suddenly... it all stopped. His whole body went limp and his face fell. There were no angry words, no verbal bashing, no physcial punishment for the little green Digimon. The Kaiser just stepped back from the cell and started down the hall, just staring down at his feet as he went. Wormmon had flinched, bracing himself to be kicked or at least yelled at. But when the boy did nothing but walk away, the Digimon was left feeling incredibly confused. Against his better judgement, he scuttled after him. "Ken? What's the matter?"

Not in the mood for his Digimon's sympathy, the Kaiser finally gave Wormmon a kick, though it wasn't one of the swift, hard kicks he usually got. Just one to knock him out of the way. The Kaiser made it to his control room where he sat in his modest throne and watched one of the many screens displayed before him. "Today we have with us a young genius named Ken Ichijouji."

"I haven't done anything special..." he claimed on screen.

"But you must work so hard behind the scenes," the reporter insisted.

"No, not really..." The Kaiser leaned over in his seat, head down. Behind his dark glasses, sad lonely eyes were staring at the floor.

Despite the kick, Wormmon still got back up again and followed the dark-haired boy into the main control room. He stood behind the high-backed chair, unsure of what exactly he was seeing occur. "It's getting dark, you know, Ken..." he murmured to break the silence, until the television did it for him, a woman's voice asking Ken question after question about the source of his genius and his home life as Ken responded cooly with humble answers.

"I believe a genius is one percent natural and 99 percent effort."

Ken smiled into the camera. "I guess you're right."

"I think you're the type who would like animals. Do you have any pets?"

Just keep smiling. "No, I can't have any pets in our apartment." What would he do with pets anyway? He thought little enough of humans as it was. Animals were even lower on the food chain and thus not even worth his time.

"You're known as a genius student, but your house is quite normal." At the time, he didn't know what that had to do with anything.

"I guess so." His parents were always on him. Spoiling him and fawning over his genius. His mother doting on everything. The reporter asked him about skipping grades like American children. He replied that there wasn't much point dwelling on that, since Japanese children weren't allowed to skip grades. The interview ended shortly after that. The news crew left and Ken was alone with his principal. He was starting to get bored. Then the man asked if Ken would tutor his daughter. But he knew what that really meant, the way it was whispered in his ear. The nerve of this man! The Kaiser clutched the arm rests as his body stiffened.

Wormmon shifted around the chair, coming to sit at the boy's feet instead, in front of the throne. His antenna twitched nervously as he looked at the dark eyes hidden behind those large, gold glasses. He could tell the boy was deep in thought and emotions, but Wormmon hadn't seen him like this for the longest time. "Ken?"

Ken had turned down the offer only to be asked for an autograph instead. That's all people ever wanted. To use him. Promote this, do me a favor, participate in that, meet this person, talk about that person, give us your opinion, help us with this project. All they did was use him for his genius. No one paid any attention to Ken. No one asked him how he felt or what he wanted. No one would just sit down and spend time with him. His parents weren't any better. All they did was praise him for all the work they did. Weren't they supposed to take care of him? Weren't they the ones who were supposed to ask about his feelings? They just rode on his success. Ken had gone to the roof where he looked down at the city below. The city full of people who didn't care about him, only what he could do for them. "Little gnats!" he'd snarled angrily down at them. And they were. Horrid little gnats buzzing around his head wanting this and that. But what about what he wanted?! That's where Davis came in. With Davis around... The Kaiser finally had someone to praise him for all the right reasons. Davis loved the Kaiser. Davis was there when he needed him. All it took was one little ring. But... even that couldn't keep him. Davis still ran away, and the Kaiser was left all alone. He stood up then, walking to another part of the control room where he started work on a new project.

"Ken... I don't know what's bothering you, but... you work so hard, right?" Wormmon didn't get an answer. Ken just continued to work, tapping buttons on the wall that lit up red when his fingertips touched them. The little Digimon sighed and settled at the Kaiser's feet to watch him work in silence.

At the same time, the chosen children had gathered at Yamato's apartment to check up on Davis. He'd slept for a rather long time, but now he was sitting up in bed in a pair of pajama pants he'd borrowed, his torso almost totally bandaged up. TK, Kari, Cody, Yolei, Yamato, and Izzy were all sitting on the floor in Yamato's bedroom, the younger kids all holding their Digimon in their laps. They'd all been sitting in uncomfortable silence for a while as Davis weakly scratched between DemiVeemon's ears. "So, how are you feeling?" Kari finally asked, which gathered a weak smile from the still groggy boy.

"Better, I guess."

"I know we keep asking you this..." TK began slowly, "but you still don't remember anything about what happened? Anything at all?"

Normally cute red eyes glared at the blond, his gaze expressing his protectiveness of Davis. "He said he doesn't remember," DemiVeemon hissed quietly.

TK put his hands up defensively. "Okay. Okay. But, what about before that? Did the Kaiser do or say anything that might lead us to stopping him? Maybe he revealed his next plans or something."

Davis frowned at DemiVeemon slightly. He knew the little Digimon was just trying to help, but he wished he wouldn't act so hostile when people asked him what happened. Davis began to wrack his brain, picking at his bandages idly until Yamato reached over and hit the back of his hand slightly to make him stop. Davis huffed and went back to scratching DemiVeemon's head to hopefully keep him calm. "I remember he made me bow..." he murmured, as if the details were just fazing back in as he spoke. "He said that he was Ken, but..." His face fell into a confused expression as he tried to make sense of what he remembered next.

"What did he say?" Yolei pressed.

"Well, he said I'd call him master instead. But I don't ever remember calling him that, that's for sure."

TK was just shaking his head. "Wait! Back up, Davis. Did you just say that Ken Ichijouji is the Kaiser? How is that possible? You had that soccer game with him last week. Why didn't he say anything to us then? It would have been the perfect chance to reveal himself when we couldn't do anything about it."

Cody had been looking down at his lap, idly studying Upamon's ears. He looked up at Izzy, now, though. He felt a connection with the older boy, so his question just went to him. "Why would a boy like him do such things?"

TK perked up. "I even saw him on the TV again last night!"

"Oh... I forgot, you guys didn't hear that," Davis said, scratching at the back of his head. "It's true... he showed me his eyes and told me. Ken Ichijouji is the Kaiser."

"No way!" Yolei gasped.

Izzy frowned at Cody's question, putting his hand to his mouth as he thought. "I don't know..." Pulling his hand from his face, he said, "We need to investigate further. We should confront him in the real world where he can't attack us," he said, gesturing to Davis' badly bruised body.

"But where are we supposed to even find him?" TK asked.

Cody noticed Upamon trying to get into the bag of food Yolei had brought from her family's store. He helped by getting out some seaweed rolls he knew his Digimon liked. That's when Cody also noticed a magazine in the bag with Ken's picture on the side of the cover. "Huh?" The boy began flipping through until he found an article about the genius in question. There was a larger photo there, on of Ken smiling like any other kid. "From just this picture alone, it's hard to tell that he's not very nice."

"Looks can be deceiving in pictures," TK reminded him.

"Can I see?" Izzy asked, holding out his hand. When the boy handed over the magazine, the redhead began to flip through the article, looking at the provided pictures of Ken. "Oh, so this is him... I've seen him a few times before."

"He's on the news a lot, isn't he?" Yamato asked as he peered over at the pictures as well. Izzy handed over the magazine to take his laptop out of its bag, and Yamato continued to read the article. "Math, logic puzzles... soccer..." Davis huffed, crossing his arms at that.

Cody scooted closer to Izzy to watch him work. "If Ken can pass through the gate, do you think he could be a Chosen Child?" he asked the redhead. "Ken is really smart, very athletic, and... I guess in Yolei's opinion, quite good looking. Maybe he's one of us, but just traveled down the wrong path to evil?"

Davis continued to make disgruntled noises. "What do all of those things have to do with being a chosen child?"

"It's possible," Izzy said, as he began to type on his laptop, occasionally glancing at the article open in Yamato's lap.

TK sighed. "All of this is well and good, but none of it gets us any closer to actually finding him."

"Patience," Izzy said. "Look at the style of apartment building in the picture in this article," he said, gesturing to the magazine as Yamato held it up, pointing to a rather large picture of Ken standing in front of the building where he lived. "Based on the way it looks, I'd say it was taken around this area," he said, turning his laptop around so the other kids could see a map he'd pulled up on the screen. He encircled one area with his finger.

"Well, there's only one apartment building still in that area, so it has to be this building," Kari said, pointing to a specific point on the map.

"Then that's where we're going," TK said decidedly. He stood up, gesturing to Patamon to follow him. "We'll say we're fans of his or something. I'm sure that's normal. I've seen his parents on the news before, too. They seem really nice and trusting. I'm sure they'd let us in to see him."

"Alright, let's go!" Davis chimed in, instantly trying to clamber to his feet, though he wound up groaning with pain even as he forced himself to stand up.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. You're still really hurt," Yamato said with a deep frown, standing up and trying to push Davis back onto the floor mattress with his hand.

"No, no, I'm fine. I wanna go," Davis insisted, stepping away before Yamato could push him down by his shoulder.

Cody watched unsuredly as Davis staggered about like a baby horse. In his mind, he could still clearly see what Davis was like when they found him. Cody had gone home that night and cried into his pillow, even though he didn't know why. DemiVeemon scampered over to the pile of clean clothes Yamato had recently washed. He picked up the shorts in his little paws and dragged them over to Davis, holding then up as high as he could. TK just nodded to his brother. "Davis can come. He deserves to face Ken. We'll take it slow, though."

Davis grinned thankfully, first at TK and then at his Digimon, taking the clothing and steeling himself to do his best to walk straight to the bathroom to change, though his still pained gait was still there, albeit much more efficiently covered up. He'd learned from years of convincing his soccer coach that he was fine and could keep playing, even with a potential sprain or broken bone. Finally, he managed it to the bathroom and changed from the pajama pants into his regular clothing. When he reappeared in the doorway, the other kids had all gotten to their feet, ready when he was. Izzy had gone to Yamato's computer and printed out the map for the other kids. "I guess you're ready to go, then," the redhead said, before starting to lead the group to the door. He and Yamato wished them luck at the door, and then they all started on the way to where they supposed Ken Ichijouji lived. Cody looked at the map Izzy had printed for them. "This is it..."

But when they looked to the entrance of the building, there were police cars everywhere with an ambulance. "Did you hear?" some neighbors were whispering to each other. "That Ichijouji boy ran away."

Mrs. Ichijouji was on the steps crying into her hands while her husband tried to explain things to the police. "I've got no idea what's going on... My son has been very quiet and distant lately, but we didn't think it was this serious."

The group eavesdropped, and frowns came across all of their faces. "He ran away? Where?" Davis asked aloud.

The group later reported back to Izzy, this time in the computer lab. "They didn't know he was missing until yesterday," Kari was saying.

Izzy looked thoughtful, before suddenly rushing over to one of the computers and turning on the map of the Digital World. Just as he feared, almost all of the areas they'd worked so hard to free were marked with black squares once again, signaling the presence of control spires. "Ken must have been in the Digital World this whole time... working on this." Izzy murmured. "He must be planning on staying there."

"You mean... He isn't coming back?" TK asked nervously. He and Kari knew how much damage could be done from being in the Digital World all of the time.

Cody picked up the same magazine and looked at the smiling photo again. "It is possible..." he mumbled.

"He's going to live there forever?" Yolei exclaimed.

"Whatever the case, it's going to get tough from here on," Izzy said, frowning at the black squares all across the map.

"Then let's get going!" Davis said in a strangely energetic way, clenching his hand into a fist.

"But it's already getting late..." Cody pointed out.

"We have to do something," Davis argued.

"We'll just take a look," Kari suggested.

"Right," Izzy said, nodding. "Just go in and take a look around so we can assess the situation and create a plan of action for next time."

"Gotcha!" Davis said, grinning. The children held up their Digivices and were soon transported to an area of the Digital World that was completely ablaze. Fire leapt from huge crevices on the ground and heat distorted their view in any direction. "Oh man, it's hot..." Davis complained, instantly throwing off his fur-lined jacket.

The Kaiser had been sitting in the control room just watching as his work came to fruition. Suddenly there was a beeping and flashing on screen. "They came...?" he sounded surprised, but quickly smirked and stood. He felt Wormmon nuzzling on his ankle. Disgusting. One good kick took care of that. The Kaiser approached a screen with the image of Greymon on display. A devious grin then spread across his face.

Meanwhile, the group had been attacked by a band of Meramon. Since their bodies were made of fire, neither Flamedramon nor Halsemon found their fire and wind attacks effective. Digmon broke the ground beneath their feet, sending the Meramon plummeting into the lava below, but the Digimon made of fire were still unaffected. Luckily, Pegsusmon and Nertimon's attacks were more effective, and they were able to take down the Meramon. But just as that fight ended, the loud flapping of wings overhead caught the children's attention. Five Airdramon came flying in. Industrial strength wires connected their harnesses to one Greymon, whom they were carrying through the air. Looking closely enough, the Greymon could also be seen wearing a dark ring around his neck. The Kaiser stood on the head of the center Airdramon, laughing in triumph. "I couldn't control Andromon, but if I evolve from a Champion Level, I should be able to control an Ultimate type. And if that works... I'll have a new powerful enough ring for humans as well." When close enough to the Chosen Children, he proclaimed out to them. "With the demonic Digivolution at my disposal, this Greymon will become a MetalGreymon and my pawn!" He laughed, raising his dark Digivice into the air. A dark light sprung forth, forcing Greymon to Digivolve. Only instead of the armor plated soldier he was hoping for, the Kaiser found a skeletal nightmare dragging his Airdramon down. The shocked look on the boy's face was enough to prove this was not his intention.

Kari gasped, instantly putting her hand over her heart as she watched the huge skeletal Digimon tear the ropes off of its body, falling to the ground with a loud crack and dragging most of the Airdramon down with him. "What the hell is that thing?!" Davis asked, pointing to the towering creature.

"SkullGreymon," Kari said in a choked voice.

"Run..." TK breathed. "We can't beat that thing!" Three of the Digimon charged forward, though. The ones who didn't know better. Flamdramon, Digmon, and Halsemon were all easily knocked aside and forced to devolve after one hit.

"All of you must get away," said Nefertimon. When her girl began to protest, she just shook her head. "Pegsusmon and I will handle him. You all need to get to a safe place."

"Ground Zero." A deep booming voice signaled that it was too late. The missile was launched from SkullGreymon's back and it headed straight for the Dark Tower. The Kaiser hissed. The impact was great. A blinding flash of white light, a deafening explosion, and shockwave of wind all signaled the deadly force of the attack.

When the explosion was over, the control spire was no more, completely destroyed. SkullGreymon, now out of energy, devolved all the way back to Agumon. As an Airdramon picked him up in its mouth by his short tail, Kari was able to get a good look at the enslaved Digimon. "It's my brother's Agumon!" she gasped, running out from behind the boulder they'd hidden from the explosion behind. "Wait! Don't take Agumon! Agumon!" she called, even as the Airdramon flew out of sight. Cody was the first to pull out his D-Terminal and type out a message. He sent it to Izzy, praying he was still at the computer. 'Taichi's Agumon was captured by the Digimon Kaiser and Agumon demonic-evolved to SkullGreymon. Please hurry and contact Taichi.' Izzy was still there, waiting for them to return. He'd started to get worried when it began to become dark and they still hadn't come back, when they were just supposed to go, look around, and come back. As he read the e-mail, his eyes widened, and he felt a cold sweat break out across his neck. Not good. Frantically, he was typing out a message to Tai to tell him what had happened. They needed to save Agumon now, and fast.


	9. Taichi and Yamato

The Kaiser was expecting the Chosen Children to show up, but when, where, and how was of no concern to him right now. He needed to figure out the flaw in his dark rings. Andromon was able to break free, and SkullGreymon launched an attack on the dark tower of his own free will. "Why did it...? Why doesn't it control Ultimate types?" He stared at the screen displaying his creation and all the data going into it. "I guess the dark ring has limits... Then where could the problem be?"

Wormmon watched all of this from the floor behind the boy's throne, as usual. He couldn't help the guilty look on his face, which is why he hid out of the Kaiser's sights. When Andromon had first broken free of the ring's control, the Kaiser had dismissed it as a failure the rings couldn't overcome. Then, Wormmon had set Davis free and lied that the ring had simply failed to control him. And now the Kaiser was obsessed with making the ring strong enough to control Ultimate Digimon. Half in pursuit of obtaining their power, and half to be able to completely enslave humans. He could tell. The determination on the boy's face didn't just come from wanting to more Digimon pawns to his collection. He had a more personal goal in mind. He was making Greymon Digivolve with his Dark Digivice over and over again to try and figure out what needed to be changed in the ring, and it tore Wormmon up to watch.

"Greymon, demonic Digivolve!" the Kaiser commanded to the Digimon he was keeping in a specially reinforced containment room. Greymon stood and Digivolved, but instead of taking the form the Kaiser wanted, he Digivolved into SkullGreymon again. The bone beast went into a rampage, thrusting himself against the walls and floor trying to get out. Dark eyes observed the ring in action. "Where's the problem?" SkullGreymon launched his torpedos up at the wall until there was a hold big enough for him to tear through. When he tried, however, a blast of electricity sent him back to the floor and devolved back to Greymon. "I see," the boy breathed. "No good..." The ring on screen warped and broke, but something caught his eye. "What was that?"

Wormmon changed the expression on his face to one of curiosity as he rounded the throne. "Have you figured it out?" he asked meekly. His eye was briefly caught by the small map of the Digital World displayed on one of the screens, and another area suddenly turning white. It seemed the chosen children had wasted no time.

"Possibly," he replied. "Greymon, demonic Digivolve!" He watched as SkullGreymon appeared once more. It went on the same rampage. The Kaiser was quick to analyze all the data he was collecting on the ring's capabilities and limitations. SkullGreymon torpedoed the same hole only to be crushed by the debris he created and devolve back into Agumon. "I think I've got it," the Kaiser said. "The dark ring is capable of controlling the Champion class easily... but the Ultimate class is too complicated. The ring can't keep up with the data processing. It needs a different shape." He began typing on the console that only appeared when he needed it. Three rings appeared on screen, two smaller on either side of the regular one in the middle. "The word impossible does not exist in my dictionary," he laughed triumphantly.

Wormmon tapped his small claws together with a sad look on his face. He then turned and scuttled off into the darkness while the Kaiser's attention was on his new creation. Though his pace was slow, he knew the boy wouldn't look back at the security cameras until he was done investigating this new discovery and trying to make this differently shaped dark ring. He figured that was enough time to do what he had to do. He got down to the prison block, and even deeper into the citadel to the huge, now destroyed cell Agumon was held in. The little green Digimon carefully took off the dark ring and banged it up against the rocks, like he had last time, and tossed it aside. He then headed back up towards the control room, leaving the door open for Agumon to escape through.

"This won't work," the Kaiser hissed. "The processing power has increased, but it's still not enough. Wait..." He tapped a few more keys. "This is it! I should have done this from the beginning." The boy stood up, laughing wickedly. "This way..." He watched as the rings joined and morphed into a spiral shape. "The processing and transmitting power will increase even without using the dark tower's power." The screen changed to show the holding cell where Agumon was supposed to be, but it was empty. "Huh? He's not there anymore... Why?"

Wormmon only then was able to get back into the room, trying to look as if he'd never left. "Something wrong, Ken?" he asked innocently, approaching him to look at the screen and hoping he seemed surprised.

The Kaiser was looking at the floor grimly. "Agumon escaped." He crossed his arms in thought. "How did he get the dark ring off?"

"Probably... probably the same way Davis did?" Wormmon offered meekly. "Ken, why don't you forget about trying to Digivolve him?" he said quickly. "I'll Digivolve for you," he said, taking a few steps closer. "I'll Digivolve and fight for your sake. That's why..."

Wormmon gave himself away in that moment. The Kaiser figured out then that his Digimon set Agumon free so the Kaiser would have no choice but to use him. "It was you that let him escape!" he barked.

"W-Well, that is..." Wormmon stammered, looking guiltily away. "I'm your partner, Ken..." he said, trying to change the subject. "That's why you should do those experiments on me, not Davis and Agumon."

The Kaiser just scoffed. "Heh. And just what kind of Digimon would you Digivolve into?" he asked, bearing down on the insect. "You think you're my partner? You're wrong." The boy stood and laughed again. "The partner of the Digimon Kaiser can't be you."

"Ken!" Wormmon whined, reaching his tiny claws upward desperately.

"I told you not to call me Ken!" the boy barked and kicked Wormmon across the floor. "My name is Digimon Kaiser!"

"I'm sorry Ke-" Wormmon started, only to stop himself as he got up off the floor. "I mean, I'm sorry, Kaiser... Please..."

"Silence! Stop your sniveling!" The Kaiser raised his whip, ready to beat the annoying little insect when an alarm caught his attention. "What the...?" He looked at the outside security camera to see the chosen children wandering about. One of the older children who came now and then was also there with Agumon on his back. "Came to save his friend... I don't think so." The Kaiser began to walk out, but paused and turned back to Wormmon. "You were lucky this time."

"Ken..." Wormmon started after him, only for the boy to crack the whip right in front of his face, making the green Digimon go tumbling backwards. His antenna drooped and he backed up to sit near the throne instead of follow the Kaiser as he briskly left the citadel to go meet the chosen children.

Tai was leading the others down the railroad tracks. He looked over his shoulder at the Digimon on his back. "Agumon? Does it still hurt?"

"I'll be okay. Thank you, Taichi," Agumon murmured.

Laughing could be heard from overhead. They all turned and gasped to see their sworn enemy standing right above them. "Ken Ichijouji!" TK exclaimed.

"Call me Digimon Kaiser," he said smoothly.

"Tch. Who'll call you that?" Davis snapped, before yelling up at the Kaiser. "Ken! Ken! Ken Ichijouji!"

He glared down at the dark-skinned boy, teeth clenched. "I'm going to kill you..."

"That's my line," Tai shot back. "You're the one who did this to Agumon. Hope you're ready!"

The Kaiser just laughed again. "A middle school upper classman getting so angry at an elementary school kid like me. Isn't is shameful?"

"I'm younger than you, but I don't want to associate with you at all!" Cody argued with his stick, supposed be sword, raised in the air. "You're a disgrace to all humans!" He threw the stick at the Kaiser, but it was easily broken in half by his whip.

"The little gnats can say all they want." With another crack of his whip, an army of Airdramon and DarkTyrannomon appeared.

"Alright Veemon, let's do this!" Davis said, clenching his hand into a fist. Soon, Flamdramon and Digmon were fighting the DarkTyrannomon, taking them out one by one easily despite the fact that Yolei and Hawkmon had stayed behind. Soon, Nefertimon and Pegasusmon had also joined the fight, aimed to attack the Kaiser. They'd soon bombarded the Airdramon he rode so much that the boy had no choice but to jump down to the ground.

"I'll finish it!" Agumon declared, rushing towards the Kaiser.

"Agumon, wait!" Tai called as he ran after his Digimon.

The Kaiser stood upon a small mound of dirt, laughing once more. "It's too bad. You're a little late. The dark spiral is complete," he announced and held up his newly created device. Once the device was glowing a brilliant red, he threw it at Agumon and it slipped over his arm to a perfect fit. The Kaiser watched as Agumon struggled against its power, but soon he was subdued. "An upgraded dark ring... the dark spiral!"

Agumon shook with the overpowering energy of the spiral, and soon began to glow and Digivolve. He skipped over the Champion level and went straight to Ultimate. But this time, instead of becoming the rampaging SkullGreymon, the light of Digivolution cleared to reveal... "MetalGreymon!" Kari gasped. "But... something's wrong with him..." The dinosaur's usually orange skin was a ghastly blue-gray, and his eyes glowed red beneath his metal helmet.

The Kaiser was grinning now. "Just as I thought. He Digivolved the way I wanted him to."

"Agumon!" Tai ran up to his virus infected Digimon. "It's me! Don't you know me?" he pleaded with arms outstretched. The monstrous Digimon growled at the young teen.

"Talking to him is a waste of time," said the Kaiser. "He's no longer your partner Digimon. He's my follower! Now, MetalGreymon! Show me the power of an Ultimate level!"

MetalGreymon roared and sent his metal arm sailing towards where Tai stood. "Watch out!" Davis yelled, tackling the other boy out of the way just as huge, sharp claws dug into the ground where Tai once stood. Nefertimon and Pegasusmon used their Sancutary Bind to wrap MetalGreymon up in a golden noose, binding his arms to his sides, as Davis dragged Tai away from the fight, his arms hooked into the older boy's.

"Digmon, we should attack the dark spiral!" Flamdramon said as he ran up beside him companion.

"Stop!" Despite Davis' best efforts, Tai was pulling him forward, closer to the battle. "Don't fight Agumon!" The other Digimon didn't seem to be listening as they kept on suggesting strategies to each other. "Please! Just wait!" the brunet begged.

"We can't wait!" Nefertimon shouted, knowing their bind wouldn't hold much longer.

"Wait! If Taichi says we should wait, we should wait!" Davis shouted over the commotion. He was ignored, as the four Digimon lined up to attack.

"It's a small target... And he's moving around so much... but I'll do my best, dagya," Digmon said.

But, MetalGreymon broke free of the glowing ropes that bound him and his metallic chest opened up. "Giga Destroyer!" he roared, as two missiles were shot at the assembled Digimon, forcing them all the way back to their Rookie stages in a huge explosion of sparks and smoke.

The Digimon Kaiser was laughing now with evil delight. "One point for the Ultimate type. That was almost too easy." Taking advantage of the chaos, he found a place atop MetalGreymon's head where he could look down on the other children. "We can take over the Digital World in no time. Now let's go, MetalGreymon! To the next area!" The gray-blue Digimon took to the sky along with all the Airdramon that always seemed to be around the Kaiser. His laughter could be heard loud and clear as they flew away.

Tai was left looking solemnly at the ground. "What do we do... What can we do to get Agumon back?" he asked sounding scared and desperate.

"Guys!" Yolei's voice suddenly cut in, and the group turned to see her pulling up in a small rail cart on the tracks that comprised the area, Hawkmon next to her and, surprisingly enough, Yamato in the cart attached to the first. "Sorry about earlier," Yolei apologized as TK, Davis, and Cody ran up to meet her and Yamato.

Cody smiled at the older girl. "We believed you would come."

Yamato jumped out of the cart. "It was actually lucky for me that she stayed behind. So... what happened?" The group came together to explain to Yolei, Hawkmon, and Yamato everything that had happened that day. By the end of the story, a deep frown had come over Yamato's face and Tai had moved away from the group. "Ah, I see..." the blond murmured, before turning to go approach the brunet that stood apart from them.

Tai was still lost in himself. Lost on how he was going to help his Digimon without having to fight him. "What should we do? What?"

"Taichi..." Yamato murmured, getting the other boy's attention. When Tai looked at him, he clenched his hand into a fist and decked Tai across the face, sending him straight to the ground.

"Hey! Why would you do that?!" Davis shouted. "Agumon was just taken and he's really hurting right now! Why would you punch him!?" He went to tackle Yamato out of anger, but Kari's voice made him stop.

"Wait, Davis..."

Yamato and Tai seemed to have some sort of unspoken understanding as the blond simply offered Tai his hand to help him up. "I know that goes against our promise..." Yamato murmured, "But you needed it."

"Yamato..." Tai took the hand and pulled himself up. He smiled at the blond and nodded. "Thanks, Yamato. I think that one woke me up... I shouldn't hold back anymore." His expression turned thoughtful. "Being so defensive caused all of this. We can't get Agumon back unless we put all of our strength into it."

"Right," Yamato said with a nod. "Agumon would probably think the same thing. To be destroyed rather than fight for the Digimon Kaiser." Davis was left looking bewildered as to what had just occurred between the two.

"Yeah..." Tai stepped around Yamato so he could address the others. "Everyone, I have a favor to ask. Next time we fight MetalGreymon, hit him with all you've got."

"Is that really okay?" Kari asked quietly.

"Tai is right!" declared Gatomon. "If you have any feelings for Agumon... don't you dare hold back!" Everyone nodded in agreement. They would do whatever it took to set Agumon free. They all piled into the rail carts; Tai, Yamato, Daivs, and Veemon in the front, while all the other children and their Digimon sat in the back. Tai looked over at Yamato, smiling at him in his secret way. Once again, the blond had come during a time when Tai really needed him.


	10. Friendship

The Kaiser was raiding on his newly obtained MetalGreymon while he studied the screen of his laptop. He was looking at all the areas he had left to conquer. With a Complete Type at his command, taking over the rest of the Digital World would be easy. When MetalGreymon gave a roar of impatience, the Kaiser just laughed, delighted his new Digimon had a thirst for battle. So they headed south. Little did he know that the Chosen Children had stumbled upon a new tool that would help defeat him. Cody had stopped the mine cars when he noticed a Digimental reading on his Digivice. In the side of a mountain they found a carving of the symbol for friendship, and there, on the ground, was something of a barbell shaped egg. It was black in color with a yellow lightning bolt horn and blue friendship symbol. The only question was: Who did it belong to? "Do you think there's more kids like us?" Yolei pondered aloud, as the group gathered around the hole in which the Digimental sat.

"Well, it has the crest of friendship on it, so maybe it's for me, like Kari's or TK's were," Yamato theorized.

"The crest of friendship..." Davis murmured, frowning down at the Digimental. Yamato and Tai had a quick laugh about how the Digimental symbolized their quarreling days, confusing all of the other kids when they said that their fighting symbolized their bond and shared a knowing smile before the blond stepped into the crater to try and lift it. But he found that he couldn't dislodge the Digimental from the ground. Tai, Cody, Yolei, TK, and Kari all attempted it as well, but failed. When it came to be Davis' turn, however, he stood sort of awkwardly at the edge of the crater. "The Digimental of Friendship, huh..."

"It's your turn," Tai insisted, giving Davis a small push.

"That thing isn't for me," Davis said, shaking his head and trying to back away from the edge of the crater again.

"What? Why?" Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I, uh..." Davis stammered, looking at his hands as his twiddled his thumbs nervously. "Because... it's the Digimental of Friendship, right? I, um..." he laughed strangely, scratching at the back of his neck. "I'm not a friendly guy, that's all. Right."

Tai just laughed. "Who cares? Look, the least friendly people always end up with the crest of friendship. Trust me. I know. Now go try," he said and gestured toward the Digimental.

Yamato huffed, crossing his arms. Davis just shook his head again. "No, really... I don't understand what you're talking about when you say all of that stuff about Agumon... Like when you said fighting him would be good for him... I just don't understand it at all."

That's when Yamato and Tai grabbed him out of frustration by his arms. "Stop trying to be so deep and just do it already!" Yamato growled. "Can't you just listen to your upperclassmen?" he asked, as they tossed Davis head-first into the crater.

"Okay, I got it, I got it!" Davis sighed, swinging his arms so he didn't crack his head on the sharp spike of the Digimental. He braced his legs, breathed in deeply, and then grabbed the black object. He tugged weakly a few times before hastily standing up and laughing. "Thought so! Can't do it!"

Suddenly a high pitched buzzing sound ripped through the air. All the children cried out and covered their ears. Yolei was the first to notice a large wasp-like Digimon coming towards them from the sky. It was a Flymon that wasted no time attacking. It fired its Deadly Sting multiple times, each attack missing until one grazed Patamon's ear, instantly rendering him helpless. Both Veemon and Hawkmon evolved, but the ear splitting buzz from Flymon stopped them in their tracks. Everyone was doubled over from the sound, and when it was quiet again, TK looked to see that Patamon was gone. He looked to the sky just in time to see Flymon carrying Patamon away in its claws. TK took off after his Digimon with Davis at his heels, but they didn't get very far. The virus infected MetalGreymon came to stand in their path, and none other than the Kaiser, riding atop his head, was there to boast. When Patamon was offered to him, the Kaiser pulled out a Dark Spiral. "I was able to make a second spiral," he bragged. "And this Digimon will make a nice guinea pig."

TK clenched his fists in rage. "What did you say?! Don't play with me!"

The Kaiser frowned. "You should watch how you talk to me."

Getting swept up in his own anger, Flamedramon got ready to strike. "Fire...!"

"Cut it out!" Davis snapped, suddenly stepping up next to his Digimon. "You could hit Patamon!" He looked up at the Kaiser, clenching his fists. "They're too close together... there's nothing we can do." Of course, TK was none to happy to hear this, and instantly confronted Davis, insisting he do something instead of just sit back and watch. They nearly started to fight, only for Yolei to force them apart and stand between them.

"Stop it, you two! We don't have time for this!"

The Kaiser laughed boldly. He was genuinely amused by the bickering of the lesser life forms. "What are you vermin doing? Fighting amongst yourselves? Your friendship is just that, huh...?"

TK glared up at the enemy. "I won't let Patamon become your slave!"

"And Agumon too!" Tai shouted.

The Kaiser just scoffed, smiling. "Why don't you try and get them back, then?" He turned to Patamon with the spiral. He watched the little Digimon squirm. "Your foolish friends can watch this wonderful experiment," he said with a devilish gleam in his eyes. TK ran forward, desperate to save his Digimon, which forced Taichi to tackle him to the ground since MetalGreymon fired his metal claw at them. No doubt Patamon would have been doomed if not for the great white wolf that jumped in at the last second, destroying the Dark Spiral right in the Kaiser's hand. Not to mention snatching Patamon up in his jaws at the same time.

Garurumon also took down the Flymon as he leapt towards the Digidestined, releasing Patamon from his mouth and into TK's arms. "Thank you Garurumon!" he squeaked, grabbing onto the front of TK's shirt. "Sorry I made you worry."

"TK really put himself in danger to protect Patamon..." Davis murmured, watching the pair as Garurumon explained that Tentomon had alerted him of the trouble.

"Davis, would you do anything to protect me?" Flamedramon asked from where he stood behind the boy.

"Eh? Uh, well... probably..." Davis murmured, grabbing one of his arms with the opposite hand.

"Probably? Probably?!" Flamedramon almost sounded offended as he took a step forward. "Say it for sure, Davis!"

"How dare you!" the Kaiser growled, interrupting their conversation. "Are you trying to make me angry? This is it... MetalGreymon!"

MetalGreymon roared loudly, throwing back his head as the Kaiser slid onto his shoulder. Yamato got onto Garurumon back and rode forward, trying to aim to take off the Dark Spiral, but MetalGreymon lifted his foot and nearly crushed them beneath his mighty tread, the wolf-like Digimon just narrowly escaping. "Get it together, Garurumon!" Yamato shouted, as they again dodged MetalGreymon, this time his huge mechanical claw. "We can't just keep dodging! We need to attack for real to get that spiral off! Hit him with everything you've got!"

"But..." Davis gasped, looking up at the giant creature. Despite his glowing red eyes and the ghastly purple skin, it was still MetalGreymon. Taichi's partner Digimon. Why was everyone so at ease with the idea of attacking him to achieve the greater good? There had to be another way! He watched with wide eyes as all of the other Digimon armor Digivolved and began to attack MetalGreymon, the bionic dinosaur roaring in pain as attacks came from all sides.

Garurumon lept into the air and clamped his jaws around the Dark Spiral. He was easily thrown from his perch, but retaliated with his Fox Fire. Tai turned to the one person who wasn't helping. "Davis, please!"

"Davis, can I fight?" Flamedramon begged. "Davis?!"

"But... that's... Taichi's Agumon..." Davis said, wide-eyed and shaking his head. As his courage dwindled and slowly faded away, so did Flamedramon's power, and he was forced back to his Rookie form almost instantly. Watching that, Davis felt like he was going to break down. Now not only was he unable to help MetalGreymon, but he'd let Veemon down, too. "I... I..." he stammered, only for MetalGreymon to swing his metal claw at him, making the boy rush to evade it, stumbling and falling to his knees. "Not good... at this rate everyone is going to get killed..." he gasped.

"That's not gonna happen!" Tai argued. "Garurumon has faith in Agumon!" He turned to face the blond and his Digimon. "Yamato, it's up to you guys now. Save Agumon!" Garurumon lept forward and again clamped his teeth upon the spiral.

"Faith?" Davis watched as Garurumon attacked again. Sweat was starting to collect on his tan skin as he watched the scene, rolling across his jaw line and down his neck. He just didn't understand. TK and Taichi had such deep understandings of their Digimon. How? How could they understand their thoughts and feelings so perfectly? There was no way to know what others were really thinking like that. There was always that grey area. It was impossible to know. His head began to throb as he tried to comprehend, watching with wide brown eyes as Garurumon was against thrown to the ground and Patamon saved Veemon just narrowly from being crushed under MetalGreymon's foot. Still, Davis just watched, sweating and his head pounding. "I don't understand... I'm such a loser..." Davis groaned, running his hands up into his hair and turning his face down to the ground. After a moment he removed his hands and balled them into fists, and screamed, "Damn it!" Suddenly, his Digivice leapt to life with the energy from his outburst, the screen shining a bright blue. His eyes cracked open and he grabbed it from his belt, seemingly completely floored by its sudden reaction. His face only became even more bewildered when the Digimental of Friendship rose from its crater and came to float in front of him.

Veemon ran to his boy's side. "The Digimental from before...? Davis! It's Davis' Digimental now!" he exclaimed.

"My Digimental...?" Davis said, disbelief dripping from every word. He hesitantly reached forward and took the Digimental in his hands, surprised when the blue glow from it died and it came to rest in his palm. He'd half expected to to burn or something when he went to touch it, or suddenly become instantly heavy again. He stared at it for a few long moments before he felt his bravery boiling under his skin again. "Okay... let's... let's try it!" he suddenly exclaimed, getting to his feet and holding the Digimental high. "Digimental Up!"

Veemon fed on the power of his new Digimental. His new form was still blue and white, but he was on all fours with black armor on his body. A mask with a lightning bold horn revealed his still red eyes and dragon jaw. "Raidramon, the storm of friendship!"

Cody watched, grinning with excitement. "One Digimon can make two armor evolutions?"

The Kaiser was also watching, jaw to the ground. He shook it out, though, and just clenched his jaw. "Do it, MetalGreymon!" Again the metal claw was launched.

Raidramon easily jumped over the claw and summoned his electrical attack from the three spikes on his back. "Blue Thunder!" A ball of electric energy was fired at the Dark Spiral on MetalGreymon's arm.

"It hit!" Davis gasped, grinning and pumping his fists in the air.

"No good! It's still in one piece!" Yamato yelled.

"Why can't we destroy it?" Davis groaned, looking let down.

"We can!" Yamato insisted, looking over at the boy. "But you need to have faith and fight together with Raidramon!"

"Together..." Davis murmured, looking over at his Digimon. "Alright! We can do it!" he said, determination coming across his face as he got onto Raidramon's back, holding tightly to the lightning-shaped spikes. "Ready? Give it all you've got!"

Garurumon and Raidramon both charged at once. Garurumon used his Fox Fire first, which missed, but MetalGreymon's dodging shook the Kaiser on his perch. Raidramon jumped in next. He summoned electricity from the air with his horn and attacked with his Lightning Blade. It was another direct hit that shattered the Dark Spiral into dust. "What?!" the Kaiser gasped. This was impossible! The Dark Spiral was supposed to be his most powerful and indestructable device! MetalGreymon wasted no time devolving back into Agumon. Luckily for him, an Airdramon was there to catch the Kaiser before he fell to the ground.

Taichi ran forward, skidding on his knees as he hugged his Digimon. "Agumon... thank God!"

Agumon seemed stunned at first, but he soon snapped to his senses and his arms circled around the boy's back in a desperate return hug. "Taichi!" he sobbed happily, even his little stub of a tail wagging with delight. "I can finally return to your side!"

"Yeah!" Taichi pulled back, his own eyes wet with tears. "And be careful from now on, you hear? I was so worried."

Agumon's mouth opened to answer, but joyous tears filled his eyes and he just buried his head in the boy's chest, crying, "Taichi!" happily.

Behind them, the Digidestined had all gathered around to congratulate Davis and Raidramon. "That was great!" Kari said first, smiling widely up at the boy who looked more decidedly confused than exhilarated with his victory.

"I guess you can do it when it counts," Yolei added.

"I did it?" Davis asked more than said. "Did you see it?"

"What's wrong with him?" TK pondered aloud. Cody took it upon himself to explain. "It seems like Davis doesn't understand what he did."

Yamato jumped up onto Raidramon's back in order to roughly ruffle Davis' hair. "Nice job! Knew you could do it!" he said with more enthusiasm than the blond normally let forth, but the victory was just too great for him to be reserved about.

When he finally lifted his hands with a satisfied grin Davis felt dizzy, laughing meekly and holding onto Raidramon's spike for support. "Thanks, I guess..."

Meanwhile, the Kaiser was riding on his Airdramon and contemplating his defeat. "Strange..." he murmured. "In theory their attacks shouldn't be strong enough to destroy the Dark Spiral."

"Ken... they're all friends, right?" Wormmon, the one who steered the Airdramon to catch him, ventured unsurely. "Maybe... maybe friendship does make people stronger."

"Are you saying their friendship did that?!" the Kaiser snapped viciously. He just turned and spat. "That's stupid. That can't be right."


	11. Kidnapped

Davis yawned, rubbing at his eyes as he stretched his foot over the edge of his bed to get his footing on the floor. Morning had come all too fast. Confusion leapt through his groggy brain when his bare feet touched not carpet, but stone. As the world slowly faded in, he realized his pillow and blankets weren't there either. Just stone. A stone floor. He suddenly jolted awake, sitting upright and brown eyes wide, looking around. This wasn't his room. It was a room he didn't recognize, one that was not furnished at all, just stone walls, floors, and ceilings. He looked around wildly before his gaze landed on the fourth wall he'd neglected to see until now. But... it was no wall. Rather, it was a line of steel bars. Panic rose in his chest as he desperately tried to remember what had happened to get him here. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? No, he'd just gone to bed and now he was in his pajamas in a jail cell! He began to breathe quickly as he got on his hands and knees and crawled over to the wall of bars to try and see out and figure out where he was. A deep, sick chuckle was heard from the hallway. Footsteps drew nearer and the laughing grew louder. Soon the Kaiser was standing in front of the bars looking down at Davis on the floor. His usual glasses were gone, so now dark eyes could be seen along with all the demented pleasure dancing in them. "That's how I love to see you, Davis. Groveling. Why not beg me to let you out while you're at it? It would make me happy. And the happier I am, the less severe your punishment will be."

"Kaiser!" Davis scrambled to his feet, gritting his teeth, the buttons of his pajama shirt making a clanging noise as he slammed himself against the bars and reached one of his hands through, trying to grab a fistful of the front of the Kaiser's clothes as his first reflex.

He was just as quick. The Kaiser grabbed that wrist and he bent the arm back, straining the limb over one of the bars. He could hear the bones creak but not quite break. "That's 'master' to you, Davis. You aren't being very good. I'll say it again. Good behavior will lessen the severity of your punishment. Don't you want that?"

"Aaagh!" Davis cried out in pain, trying fruitlessly to struggle free. It only made the pain shooting through his arm that much more intense, so he soon stopped his struggle, tears stinging at his eyes. Still, he stubbornly snapped, "Never! I'm never going to call you that, Kaiser!"

"You did once," he said in a sort of sing-song tone. The Kaiser grinned again, all the insanity harbored in his mind coming out to lace his lips. "And I think you'll be more than willing to do it again."

"N-no I didn't!" Davis argued, shaking his head. "And I won't!" he added, grinding his teeth as his eyes shut with pain, his arm strained against the bars of the cell.

"Davis, who is in control here?"

Davis flinched a bit more, groaning with pain. "I-I guess you are..."

"Who came into your room without you knowing? Who drugged you while you were sleeping? Who brought you into the heart of his citadel? Who is one move away from breaking your arm?"

"Y-you drugged me in my sleep?!" Davis gasped, his eyes shooting open.

He bent the boy's arm by just a fraction. "Who?! Davis?!"

"You!" Davis cried out, eyes slamming shut again. "Okay, okay, you," he breathed quickly.

"So who... Is your master?"

Davis shook his head stubbornly, but pain shot fresh through his arm and he whimpered, "You, you are..."

"That's right." The Kaiser gave Davis' arm some relief, but he didn't let go. "I am your master, Davis. If you're lucky, I'll even be your friend. Won't you like that? To finally have a friend?" he asked with a smirk. "Your only friend in the whole world."

Davis' eyes widened and he looked up at the Kaiser, quickly shaking his head. "That... that's not true," he said quietly. "I-I have plenty of friends."

"Do you really?" He pouted in a way to show pity, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. "Now, Davis, you know that just isn't true. Don't pretend. You don't really have any friends, do you?"

"No, no, that's not true... I just got the Digimental of Friendship!" he argued, grabbing one of the bars of the cell with his free hand and rattling it. "Th-that proves that the other kids are my friends!"

"Does it?" The Kaiser could already tell that Davis was crumbling. It was an insecurity already strong in his heart. Now it was just a matter of getting it to grow and take over. "The Digimental may have worked for you, but it still didn't feel right, did it? I could tell. You still weren't sure it really fit you. Think about it, Davis. Are those kids really your friends, or do they just put up with you?" The Kaiser spoke softly now, almost in a gentle tone. "That boy with the hat is always fighting with you. The little one thinks very little of you. That older girl finds you annoying all the time. As for that girl in pink you like so much... Kari, is it? Well, she just flat out ignores you most of the time, doesn't she?" He reached out to cup Davis' cheek. "Poor Davis. All alone in the world without a single friend."

"That... th-that isn't-" Davis started, only to gasp when he realized tears were breaking over his eyes and dripping down his cheeks. He scrubbed furiously at them with the back of his pajama sleeve, as if he could hide them.

The Kaiser just nodded with his most convincing sympathetic expression. "I know... I know... But Davis, I can make the pain go away."

Davis continued to wipe his eyes and blink quickly to keep them dry. "You wouldn't do that for me," he breathed unevenly, gasping down his tears.

"I will, Davis," he insisted. "I can make all that pain go away. Wouldn't you like that?"

Davis looked at the stone floor, only then realizing the cold feeling in his body that was creeping up from it through his already ice cold feet. He swallowed hard, his throat starting to hurt slightly. "Yeah... yeah, I would," he murmured.

The Kaiser just nodded. He ripped the pajama sleeve on the arm he still held, taking it off all the way up at the shoulder. Once the fabric was dropped to the floor, he pulled a dark spiral from behind his back. "After this, you won't have to feel anything ever again." He slipped the spiral over Davis' upper arm where it shrank to fit. The task complete, the Kaiser released the boy's arm and watched as his device took control.

"Wait!" Davis gasped, but it was too late. The dark spiral immediately began to work, and he cried out in pain as it did. The spiral even sparked, making a burning smell rise from the boy's skin as Davis collapsed onto his knees, his hands grabbing the steel bars so hard that his knuckles began to turn white. He shook his head violently, and there was a loud clang as he managed to hit his head on the bars. Finally, however, it was done. The spiral stopped sparking and Davis was left breathing heavily, his eyes opening to reveal once again the glowing red depths.

The Kaiser knelt down at that point. He knew the dark spiral had taken control. One hand slipped through the bars and cupped Davis' chin, turning his head up to look at the Kaiser. "Welcome home, Davis," he said with a strangely warm smile.

Davis was quiet for a moment, leaning into the touch a little. "Thank you, master," his voice finally came, monotone and obedient.

"Davis... I need to ask you something."

"Anything," Davis responded.

The strange happiness on his face was replaced by a sad expression that wasn't quite so foreign. "Why did you leave me, Davis? Why did you remove your collar and run away? I thought you loved me. Why did you leave me?"

"I... I didn't take it off, master," Davis said, shaking his head. "I was told we were relocating, and then..." his voice trailed off, and he frowned gently. "And then I don't remember."

The Kaiser sighed. "I'm afraid I don't like that answer, Davis. Give me your clothes. All of them." Davis just nodded, removing his hands from the bars to unbutton his torn pajama shirt, letting it fall to the floor before he sat back to pull off his pajama bottoms. When he pulled them away, it was revealed that he was wearing nothing under them, so the two items of clothing were all he handed back through the bars. He then just sat on the cold stone floor, seemingly unfazed by it now. The Kaiser took the pajamas and folded them neatly. "You have to sleep on the floor tonight, Davis. It is cold and it will hurt, but you need to be punished. You are not allowed in that bed. Do you understand? This is your punishment. Tomorrow, if you are behaved, I will call upon you."

"Yes... I understand, master," Davis said, nodding submissively.

"Goodnight, Davis." The Kaiser walked away at that point. He went back to the control room where Wormmon was waiting for him. He knew his Digimon had been watching on the screen. He could tell by that sad torn expression on his face. And that's when he knew for sure. The Kaiser placed the pajamas in his chair, turned, and without a word, he kicked Wormmon as hard as he could against the wall.

Wormmon hit the wall hard, falling to the ground in a heap. He knew why the boy was mad, it was obvious he'd figured out Wormmon's lie. "Ken... Ken, I-I'm sorry!" he apologized quickly as he got to his feet, antenna drooped and his head lowered.

"It was you!" he screamed. The Kaiser pulled the whip from his belt and lashed Wormmon with it. "You're the one who set him free! He never ran away! You let him go! I should have known!" He whipped the Digimon again. "When you set that Agumon free I should have known you set Davis free too! You made me look like a fool!" Again he whipped Wormmon, full of rage. "Is that fun for you?! Making me look stupid?! I hate you so much! You make me so angry!"

Wormmon ducked on the floor and put his little claws over his head, shaking with every hit of the whip. He knew Ken was going to be mad when he found out, but he just couldn't have sat idly by and let the poor boy's suffering go on any longer. But it seemed his attempt to help only backfired. Of course, he couldn't explain this to Ken. He wouldn't listen. So the Digimon just murmured, "I-I'm sorry, Ken..."

"And how many fucking times do I have to tell you my name isn't Ken!" he practically screeched. "My name is Digimon Kaiser! Digimon Kaiser! Digimon! Kaiser! Get it right you worthless little shit!" The Kaiser let the whip hit one more time before he just dropped it. The boy stood there, leaning forward slightly and breathing heavily. He was silent, not saying a single word. Finally he spoke in a dark and dangerous growl. "Don't you dare go near his cell." With that, he turned to leave, going off someplace where he wouldn't be disturbed. Wormmon stayed crumpled up on the floor before he finally looked up, only hearing Ken's footsteps as he angrily stormed away. The little Digimon sighed quietly, shaking off the pain and going to collect the whip, wrapping the very leather that was just abusing him up around the handle and crawling up the side of the Kaiser's throne to gently place it atop the folded pajamas. Despite everything, his loyalty remained unshaken. This time, he couldn't help. Davis would have to free himself on his own. The green Digimon looked at the largest screen on the wall, showing the tanned boy curled up on the cold floor of his cell. He just hoped that the boy could find a way out of this nightmare.


	12. What The Kaiser Wants

The next day, a collared Gazimon came for Davis. Wormmon wasn't even allowed near the boy to bring him to the Kaiser. So the grey-furred Digimon with equally glowing red eyes was the one to lead Davis through the citadel to a room that served as the Kaiser's sleeping chambers. His personal tastes came out in this place. It wasn't as empty, cold, and metal as the rest of the citadel. The walls were very dark purple with black trim and there was even black carpet on the floor. All the furniture was grey. In the middle of it all was a king sized, four post, canopy bed dressed in black silk sheets. The canopy itself was an inky indigio color. The Kaiser was seated on the bed. He had on a strapless black top, black short shorts, and black boots. His legs were crossed as he leaned back on his hands. He dismissed the Gazimon so it was just him and Davis in the room. "So...?" the boy asked. "What do you think?"

Davis' eyes moved around the room, but it was impossible to tell where the glowing red eyes were looking. The door to the room slid shut behind him as the Gazimon exited, effectively muffling any activity that was going on outside, plunging the room into silence. The boy remained quiet for a moment before a slight turn of Davis' head indicated that he was now looking at the Kaiser. "It's very nice, master," Davis said blandly.

"And me?"

Another slight nod of the boy's head and he said, "You look great, master."

The Kaiser chuckled faintly. "I do, don't I? You look rather naked, Davis," he teased.

Where he might have normally been embarrassed, Davis just nodded. "That is how you wanted me, right, master?"

"Hmhmm... Such a clever boy." One hand lifted and one finger was crooked to beckon Davis to him. "Come," he commanded regardless. Davis seemed to have a bit of trouble at first, but he'd soon walked over to the side of the bed. His trouble came from the fact that his feet were completely stiff from his night on the stone floor. In fact, his whole body ached, but it didn't seem to phase him much. "Remove my boots, Davis," the Kaiser said while bouncing that one leg over his knee. "The strings are easy enough that I think even you can figure it out." Davis nodded and bent over slightly, taking the strings of the boots into his hands. He actually did seem to get confused at first, but he'd soon unravelled the tie and got the first boot off, and had soon moved on to the second one. The Kaiser watched with a tilt of his head. Strangely enough, Davis was rather fascinating this time around. Maybe he always had been, but the Kaiser just failed to notice before. When both boots were off he wiggled his toes slightly. "Do you like my feet, Davis?"

"Yes, master," Davis responded, strangely seeming to take matters into his own hands as his hands came to lift one of the Kaiser's feet, and he kissed its sole gently. "I like every part of you."

This was certainly surprising. He recalled that moment when Davis complimented the Kaiser without any provocation. It caught him off guard back then, and it caught him off guard now. There was even the faintest hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Thank you... Davis..." he breathed hesitantly.

"Don't thank me," Davis said, just like last time, again kissing at the bottom of the Kaiser's foot that he held. "It's only the truth."

Something caught in the Kaiser's throat. What was he feeling? One finger trailed around to the top of his foot, up his shin, over his knee, and along his thigh, indicating the trail for Davis' lips. "Davis, how do you feel about me? Be honest."

Honesty didn't seem to come easily to the boy's enslaved mind. Because of this, he was quiet at first, silently following the trail the Kaiser's finger lead, his lips leaving small kisses all up the Kaiser's leg. When his mouth finally started to tease the inside of the Kaiser's thigh, he looked up, unblinking eyes focused on the dark-haired boy's face. "I love you, master. You know that."

He gripped the sheets in violent fists. The Kaiser wanted to accept these affections and words as true, but the anger and hatred in his heart were making that impossible. He'd wanted nothing else than for someone to like him... love him... unconditionally. So now, when he finally had it, why couldn't he accept it? "I'm the only one you love, right Davis? I'm the only person you have ever cared about. Ever."

"Of course, master," Davis said, his monotone voice never missing a beat. "You are the only person I've cared about or will ever care about."

"Davis..." He touched the boy's cheek only for his nails to drag roughly over tan skin. "Davis, why do we hurt the ones we love?"

Davis flinched slightly, but still spoke as if he felt no pain. "It is called tough love, master. We do it simply because we love them."

"So even if I subjected you to horrible pain, you would still believe that I loved you? And you would still love me? Is that true, Davis?"

"Yes, master," Davis said, nodding. "That's the truth."

Indigo eyes stared in disbelief at first. Suddenly, however, he was taken over by an unbearable sadness which only made him angrier. "Why did it take so long?!" The Kaiser back handed Davis across the face, using so much force that it sent the boy to the ground. "Why did it take so long for someone to love me like this?! Why did I have to wait so damn long?!"

Davis fell to the ground with a thud, putting his hand over his cheek as he sat himself back upright again. Still, he simply looked back at the Kaiser and said, "I'm sorry you had to wait, master."

"You... You should be sorry," he said, voice shaking just slightly. "Everyone should be sorry. They should have loved me sooner. Then I wouldn't have had to resort to... to this," the Kaiser said and gestured to Davis' arm. "But now it's too late. Now they all have to pay."

"Yes," Davis agreed, as he slowly got to his feet again, standing beside the Kaiser's bed. "You should be able to take out your frustrations from having to wait, master."

"I should, shouldn't I?" But the Kaiser sighed and fell back. He laid himself over the black silk sheets, the material easily folding and wrinkling around him. "Come here, Davis. I require your services."

"Yes, master," Davis said simply, finding a place on the bed where he could place his knee, lifting himself onto the mattress, having to flip his other leg over the Kaiser's hips in order to place it on the mattress as well. So, even though he seemed rather unaware of it, he straddled the Kaiser's hips as he waited for instruction.

"Davis," his voice was dry and borderline dark, "if you had to pick a part of me to touch, where would that be? What do you see that you like?" Indigo eyes stared dark and hard up at the other boy. The Kaiser's gaze almost warned that there could be a wrong answer and that Davis should choose carefully, but he doubted that message would get across. It was just a matter of seeing if his slave could really please him or not.

"I told you, master, I like every part of you," Davis said, leaning forward a bit and propping himself up on one arm as the other very slowly reached forward. "But I guess if I had to choose, here," he said, as the backs of his fingers touched the side of the Kaiser's face. Glowing red eyes then glanced upwards and he added, "Unless my master would like me to touch somewhere else."

The Kaiser actually flinched at first. It was all so confusing. Suddenly, the Kaiser found himself with everything he ever wanted, but now that he had it, he didn't know what to do with it. He had no idea how to respond to or use the affection he'd been craving from just one human being. Finally, he had someone who liked him for something other than his genius. Davis didn't ask for anything from the Kaiser. That's what he'd wanted all along, but... Why did it feel so strange now? "My arm," he said. "I want you to kiss my arm all the way down."

"As you wish." Davis moved his hand away and ran it down the Kaiser's arm, taking his hand in order to lift his arm up gently so he could lay kisses upon it, starting at the shoulder and slowly working his way down to the wrist, and lastly, the back of his hand.

"You're so gentle," he observed thoughtfully. Even when cruel Digimon were tamed by his Dark Rings, they still retained a will to fight. But not Davis. Even knowing in his subconscious that the Kaiser was an evil human being and had done horrible things, Davis still remained totally submissive and kind. It was yet another variable the Kaiser did not understand. He wanted to appreciate it, but he only felt suspicsion. "Good. Now touch my stomach, Davis. I want you to feel me there."

"If I were to be rough, it would not be while touching you, master," Davis said, as his hand moved to trail down from just under the Kaiser's chest to the hem of his shorts. "I am ready to fight for you, not with you. Isn't that what you want, master?"

What did he want? That was the real question, wasn't it? "Would you be rough with me if I asked you to, Davis?"

"If you really wanted me to, master," Davis said. "But if you do not tell me to, I will not be."

The Kaiser frowned. "You would hurt your master, Davis?"

Davis shook his head. "Only be less gentle if you wanted me to, master. I would never hurt you."

He sat up slightly, frown deepening. "And how would you even know the difference?" Davis seemed unsure, red eyes staring at his own hand as he experimentally flexed his fingers around the hand he still held, squeezing it softly and then with a bit more pressure until his hand lay flat and he remained still, as if the question had broken him and caused him to freeze, like a malfunctioning electronic. "You wouldn't know, would you?" the Kaiser growled. "How could you even dare attempt it? You would so willingly submit to harming me? Wrong, Davis!" The tan boy would find himself flipped onto his back, the Kaiser's hand gripping into his shoulders roughly, enough to bruise. "If I ever asked you to be anything other than gentle with me, you refuse! You should have known that! How could you even think to be anything other than loyal, good, and kind to your master?! That is unacceptable behavior, Davis!"

Davis still didn't move, even when he found himself on his back, and even when those fingers dug roughly into the skin of his shoulders. After the Kaiser had stopped talking, there was silence for a few minutes, glowing red eyes simply staring up into a furious face. After the long pause, he finally moved again, though it was just his lips that moved as he said, "I'm sorry, master. I didn't know."

"Sorry? Sorry?! You're sorry?!" The Kaiser lifted Davis and plowed him back down onto the bed. "Sorry isn't good enough, Davis! Sorry doesn't fix everything you did! Sorry doesn't make all the pain and lonliness go away! Sorry doesn't make people forget what you did or forgive you for it!"

Davis let himself be tossed around, still staring up at the Kaiser throughout it. After silence reigned again, he said, "Last time you said sorry was not good enough, you said you wanted me to die." He was then quiet again for a moment, before his flat voice once again asked, "Do you still want that, master?"

"I... I..." He stared confusedly down at Davis. He had said that. Did he still mean it? "No!" the Kaiser screamed. "No, Davis, that isn't what I want!" He loathed the tears in his eyes. "I want someone to love me! I want people to stop using me! I want someone to see me! The real me! I want friends and I want a life and I want to be happy!" Swept up in his sadness and the anger he felt in response to it, the Kaiser took to hitting Davis about the chest and face. "I want someone to love me for real! Why can't I have that? Why, Davis?! Why?!" Davis allowed the punches, though occasionally his glowing red eyes closed as he flinched in response to some of the more violent blows. He said nothing, and just allowed the Kaiser to hit him. Over, and over, and over again. A well landed punch across the cheek that had already been furiously backhanded even caused his skin to break open, and blood trickled down the side of his face. Still, he just allowed the Kaiser to punch him, and when his hand did move, it was only to wipe away the tears that were traveling down the Kaiser's face as he beat up the other boy.

This just made thing worse. The Kaiser was feeling so many things and he just didn't know what to do. All he could do was scream and cry as he continued to hit Davis repeatedly. After many long minutes of this, the Kaiser took Davis' hand into his own, holding it tightly. For the briefest of moments he wished this could be real without the spiral's control. Any plans the Kaiser had for Davis' torture fell by the wayside as he laid down beside the dark skinned boy, just crying and holding that hand. Davis continued to stare up at where the Kaiser had been for a moment, before he turned his head to look at where he now lay. His hand was rigid for a moment before the fingers twitched and he squeezed with experimental gentleness, like before, and his other hand again reached over to wipe away tears. "I'm sorry, master," he repeated.

"Shut up, Davis," he whimpered tiredly. "Just shut up..." Davis nodded obediently and fell quiet then, just laying there and watching unblinkingly.


	13. Burning

The Kaiser moaned quietly, turning this way and that as he woke up. There was a soreness to his throat and eyes that reminded him of his behavior the night before. He was so pathetic and disgusting. Worst of all, he'd broken down in front of his sworn enemy. Mind controlled or not. That's when he remember that Davis also didn't leave last night. Which meant the boy was sleeping in his bed. The Kaiser rolled over only to be met by a pair of glowing red eyes staring straight at him. He yelped in surprise, jumping up from where he lay and moving back. "Davis? Davis?!" he said frantically, suddenly assuming the worst.

At first, Davis didn't move. But after a moment, the Kaiser's voice stirred him, and he suddenly yawned tiredly. He rubbed at still opened eyes and moved to sit upright. The way he stretched and sat up showed that he'd simply been sleeping with his eyes wide open. His head turned slowly to where the Kaiser now stood and he quietly said, "Good morning, master."

He stared confusedly, dark eyebrows knitted together. "Were you sleeping just now?"

"Yes," Davis answered, nodding his head as his hand moved to tiredly rub the other unblinking eye.

He shook his head at that answer. "Why don't your eyes close?"

"I suppose I sleep with them open, master."

"That... That's just weird." The Kaiser grunted, clearing his throat as he fixed his hair. "Davis, do you remember last night?"

"Yes master, I do," Davis responded flatly.

"Tell me, Davis. Do you think I've gone soft?"

"No, master," Davis answered. "I don't think so."

He eyed the boy critically. "Do you think I'm weak?"

"No master, I don't think so."

The Kaiser stepped forward. He leaned over, hands on the bed, and was right up in Davis' face. "Are you being honest, Davis?"

Again, asking for honesty made the boy go quiet for a moment. But he soon leaned a bit closer as well, glowing red depths boring into the Kaiser's gaze. "Yes master, I am."

He met that gaze with his own firm stare. The Kaiser studied those enslaved eyes for a few seconds before pulling back. "Still... I think some dominance needs to be reestablished." He dragged his own fingers across his chest while staring at the boy on the bed. "Besides, weren't you the one who said I should be able to take out my frustrations?"

"You should be able to, master," Davis said, lifting his hands and turning the palms upwards before sweeping them outwards, extending his arms as if offering his body. There was a faint trail of blood that had mostly been wiped away somehow during the night, but was still faintly visible, coming from Davis' busted open cheek and having trailed down his neck, across a defined collarbone, and down a slightly toned chest and stomach before it had seemingly pooled in the crook of his torso and thigh before it was wiped away.

Dark indigo eyes caught sight of the blood. He felt a tingle in his fingertips and it put a smile on his face. "You're so good, Davis," he cooed. "I don't think I could have asked for a better slave." The Kaiser loomed over the boy on the bed, looking down at him with eyes that were gleaming with demented plans. "As well behaved as you are, I will have to exercise my authority. You understand."

Davis nodded, putting his hands back down, pressing against the mattress to keep himself upright against the imminent blows from the Kaiser. "Of course, master."

"Just remember that I love you." It began with a loud crack as the Kaiser back handed Davis across his good cheek. He watched the boy fall to the bed, but he didn't wait. The Kaiser grabbed a handful of brown hair and lifted the boy up. "Did it hurt?"

"Yes, master," Davis answered, sounding a little strained as he was pulled up by his hair, the place where he'd been hit turning red, outlining the Kaiser's hand on his skin.

The Kaiser frowned. "Not nearly enough." Keeping a hold on Davis' hair, his free hand balled into a fist which he thrust into a tan toned stomach. He watched as Davis choked and coughed, saliva sputtering and trailing down his chin. The Kaiser released him then to walk over to a table where some lit candles were held in a silver stand. Davis groaned slightly, his hands coming to hold his stomach as he bent forward slightly. His eyes, however, followed the Kaiser as he moved across the room, and after a few moments he licked his lips slightly. The Kaiser picked up one of the candles; black wax pooling and dripping just beneath the flame. "Do you know why I get so angry at you, Davis?" he asked as he approached the bed again.

"No master, I can't remember much," Davis answered truthfully, as he watched the Kaiser approach, again licking his lips a bit.

He stood in front of the bed, hip stuck out to one side and his hand upon it. "Do the words Chosen Children mean anything to you?"

"You mentioned them once, master," Davis said. "You said I was their leader."

"Indeed you are. Do you know what it is that the Chosen Children do, Davis?"

Davis seemed contemplative for a moment, frowning slightly as he stared straight ahead. But he soon shook his head and said, "No, I don't, master."

"The Chosen Children," he began slowly, voice filling with anger. "Are the ones constantly ruining my plans to take over the Digital World. Now Davis. I want you to think good and hard about this. If the Chosen Children are the one getting in my way, and you are the leader of the Chosen Children, what does that mean?"

Davis also thought about this for a while, there being a moment of silence before he simply said, "You don't like me."

The Kaiser growled. "But why, Davis? Tell me why."

"Because I'm the one leading them to constantly get in your way?"

"Because it's always your fault!" he shouted. The Kaiser lifted his foot and kicked Davis down onto the bed. In the next instant he was on his knees over the boy. "It's your fault I'm not master of this world yet! It's your fault no one takes me seriously! It's your fault those Chosen Children think they can stop me!" He tilted the candle and let the hot was drip onto Davis bare chest. "It's all your fault, Davis!" This finally got a pained reaction from the mind controlled boy. He screamed suddenly when the hot wax hit his skin, his fingers twitching as his eyes finally shut against the feeling. The Kaiser turned the candle upright again so it couls burn and let more melted wax collect. "You ruin everything, Davis. That's why I hate you. That is why I bring you here and put you under my control. With the spiral on, you do anything I tell you to do. As long as you're under my control, you can't fuck anything up for me. And that's just the way I like it. But it's not enough, you see." He tilted the candle again, only this time he'd moved it lower, so the hot liquid wax poured just inches above Davis' groin. "I have to make you suffer for every single time you got in my way."

"Ah- agh!" Davis cried out, his hands hitting the mattress and his fingers digging into the dark sheets. Sweat collected on his brow and dripped down the side of his head as the wax burned across his skin. His enslaved mind had no thoughts, so all he could focus on was the burning pain that seared across his body where the wax dripped down.

"Just remember, Davis." The Kaiser sang wickedly with a deranged smile. "As much as I hate you right now. I'll love you when it's all over." He moved the candle down and watched as the last of the wax poured right upon the base of Davis' length.

"Aggggghhhh!" the scream ripped out of Davis' throat, his whole body jerking with a spasm of pain as tears broke through his closed eyelids. His back wrenched upwards and his head turned down into his chest as he kept screaming, until he could yell no more and he fell back into the sheets shaking and gasping with tears running down his face.

The Kaiser stared at the flame still flickering at the top of the candle. His expression had fallen and become quite sullen. Davis had put on quite a good show, so he supposed it was time to end things. Turning the candle in his hand, the Kaiser pressed the tip into Davis' stomach, snuffing the flame out on his flesh. "I think that's enough for now," he said in a very dry tone.

Davis whimpered a bit when the flame was put out on his skin, swallowing hard and still shaking. "Th-thank you, m-master," he managed, opening his eyes just slightly.

He tossed the candle back onto the table it came from. Next the Kaiser came to sit beside Davis on the bed. Very slowly, but not all that carefully, he began to pick all the now dry wax from the boy's chest. "You were very good, Davis."

Davis bit his lip and flinched every time a bit of wax was removed. His skin still burned even where the wax had cooled and dried. Still, at the Kaiser's words, he managed a faint smile. "Th-thank you, master."

He just replied with a bored hum. Once the wax had been picked from the boy's body, the Kaiser stood and beckoned for Davis to follow. Two large doors led off from the bedroom into a very large upscale bathroom. It seemed that whatever part of the citadel they were in, it had been designed to cater to all of the Kaiser's personal tastes. It was his home now, after all. The floor was laid in sandstone and black marble cut in the shape of diamonds. The far walls on either side were made of dark stained redwood carved with simple patterns. The wall in front of them and the wall behind them were covered in dark red drapes hung up with black tassels. Four black marble columns were set up around the place, and there were even black and gold chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Of course, there in the middle of the bathroom, was the tub. It was large enough for ten people to fit in easily and was built into an altar of black marble that was cut into steps leading up to the tub. "I think you and I need a good bath, Davis."


	14. Confusing Affection

Davis had followed the Kaiser obediently the entire walk, wanting to hold his abused torso but finding that it stung to the touch, so he kept his hands behind his back, occasionally bringing them up to his face to wipe away some stray tears until his face was dry. When they walked into the bathroom, his red eyes scanned the entire place, and then landed on the Kaiser when he mentioned a bath. "Alright, master," he said simply.

The Kaiser sighed. "At least compliment the place. I designed it myself, you know."

"I did not know that," Davis said, bowing his head apologetically. "It's very nice, master. This part of your citadel is... all very nice." Even when his personality did a complete about-face under the control of the spiral, Davis was still not very eloquent.

That brought a smile back to the cruel boy's face. "Thank you, Davis. I designed all of it, actually. My home back in the real world was just so small, drab, and boring. I'm meant for bigger and better things, and I wanted my living quarters to reflect that. I'm glad you like it." He walked up to the tub and turned on the water, making sure it was nice and hot, despite what it would mean for Davis' burns. He then opened a bottle, pouring the contents under the running faucet, and soon enough there were bubbles foaming up with the water. "Sometimes a bubble bath is rather amusing, don't you think, Davis?"

Davis moved towards the side of the tub, his hands still gripping at each other behind his back. "I... I always have bubble baths," he said in a strangely quiet way.

This caught his attention. The Kaiser's eyes snapped up to look at Davis' eyes. Still red. Strange... Usually Davis couldn't remember anything about his real life... Since it seemed like the spiral wasn't being broken, he decided not to worry. So a small smile curled the Kaiser's lips instead. "Do you now? Well, I'm sure you know how to have fun with them, then."

Davis turned to look back at the Kaiser, his voice returning to its flat, monotone state as he said, "What do you have in mind, master?"

"To be honest, Davis, I don't really know. I'm not the 'play time' sort. Here now..." There was enough water in the tub now and the bubbles were about ready to spill over the edge. Since Davis was already naked, the Kaiser decided to leave him there for a minute. He reached back and undid the clasps on his top, throwing it to the floor. Next he lowered the zipper on the front of his shorts. Pointing his toes together, the Kaiser drew one leg up and out at a time, stepping out of the shorts almost like a ballerina.

Davis watched with unblinking eyes, letting his hands go and bringing them around his front instead. "You still move very gracefully, master," he said over the babbling water.

The shorts were tossed away with the top. Indigo eyes met with would-be brown, and for an instant he wished they weren't such a bright, harsh red. "Thank you, Davis. You speak good words to your master." He noticed the new position of Davis' hands and couldn't help a small smirk. "Have I excited you?" the Kaiser asked.

"A bit, yes master," Davis admitted, wringing his hands a little.

The Kaiser chukled and put his hands on his hips. "Show your master." Davis inhaled deeply, but did as he was told and moved his hands, folding them behind his back again. The Kaiser couldn't help the gasp that passed through his lips. Even the smile managed to grow wider at the sight before him. "My my my, look at you. Going to grow up to be a big boy, aren't you, Davis?"

Davis seemed confused by the expression, one of his eyebrows lowering, the other raising, as he stood meekly before the Kaiser. "What do you mean by that, master?"

But the Kaiser just laughed and shook his head. "I'm going to let you figure that one out. Come now, Davis. Get in the tub." He climbed in first, meaning for Davis to follow. By now the water had probably cooled off just enough to not hurt the boy's burns. Davis followed, sliding into the water slowly. When his burnt torso slipped under the water, he hissed and whimpered a bit, the warm water still inciting a sting, though it wasn't bad enough to make him cry out again. Once he slipped in enough that the water was up to his shoulders, it didn't seem to bother him as much anymore. The Kaiser picked up a bar of soap from a dish on the edge of the tub. He then gestured with his free hand. "You're filthy, Davis. Always running around getting sweaty and covered in dirt. I don't approve. Now give me your leg."

"Sorry, master," Davis apologized, as he lifted his leg above the water and offered it to the Kaiser.

"Oh don't apologize. We'll just get you cleaned up instead." Starting at Davis' foot, he gave the leg a good thorough scrubbing, which then did with the other leg. The Kaiser was even so bold as to wash between Davis' legs. "I really do think you'll come to like it here, Davis," the Kaiser said as he started to wash the boy's front. "It won't always be fun for you, nor will it always be easy, but things will get better. Of course I will still knock you around at times, but only if I'm angry."

Davis nodded, simply sitting back and letting the Kaiser wash him. "Of course," he said, watching the Kaiser's hand as it scrubbed over his chest. "That is fine, master. I'll be happy with however you treat me."

"That's what I like about you, Davis," he insisted. "You have a good attitude no matter what. Even when you were with those other children in the real world, you were very optimistic. I think that's very rare, Davis. You're special like that." The Kaiser started washing one of the boy's arms and then the other. "Of course, that's also what I hate about you. That can do attitude of yours is what kept you fighting against me. You believed that you could take me down, so you just kept trying. You confidence and cheer is what makes those kids follow you head on into danger. I kept trying to make you give up, but you just wouldn't." He had Davis turn around so he could wash his back.

Davis leaned against the lip of the tub, one arm under his chin while the other dangled over the side as the Kaiser washed his back. "...I see, master," Davis said after a moment of thinking. He seemed confused as to wether or not his attitude was a good thing now. But, as he was unable to modify his personality in his enslaved state anyway, the thought soon slipped from his hazy mind. He was quiet for a few moments before he said, "I like your determination and ambition, master."

The Kaiser grinned. "Do you now? Well thank you, Davis." He reached around and held the boy's chin so he could wash his face, getting the last of the blood and tear stains off Davis' cheeks. The Kaiser allowed Davis to resume his lounging position as he poured shampoo into short cinnamon colored hair and began to lather it all up. "Maybe one day you'll stand at my side. Would you like that?"

Davis was again quiet at first, but he soon let out a breath as his eyelids seemed to lower contentedly. "Yes, yes, I'd like that, master..." he murmured.

"Well then, as long as you are good, you'll earn that place at my side." His mind drifted back to all the times Davis had thwarted his plans. Sure the boy was so obedient now, but that was only a testement to how defiant was was before. It angered the evil boy to realize how far back he'd been set by all Davis' heroic antics. Even under the control of the dark spiral, this kid was still that annoying little insect. The Kaiser drew his hands back, lowering them to rest on Davis' shoulders. "Time to rinse." Before the tan boy probably knew what was happening, the Kaiser had gripped him around the neck and pulled his head beneath the water, holding it there firmly. At first, Davis didn't even thrash. He gasped when he was suddenly plunged underwater, but only a few bubbles popped on the surface when he vanished into the warm depths. After a frighteningly long time of holding his breath, however, water began to splash on the surface and Davis struggled to get above the surface again. The Kaiser had a very bored expression on his face as Davis thrashed around. This wasn't nearly as amusing as he hoped it would be. Well... Maybe a little. Just as the splashes started to weaken, he hoisted Davis back up to the surface, granting him that breath of relief. "Lost my temper," he said, but hardly as an apology or excuse.

Davis gasped heavily when he was finally brought above the water again, eyes wide and water dripping down his face. His normally spiked up hair now hung down around his face, and he pushed some of it away as he gained back his breath. He spat out a bit of water before nodding weakly. "O-of course, I understand, master," he gasped.

He just nodded. The Kaiser took his own breath and went below the water. When he came back up, his hair was soaked through and through, hanging down and making him look more like his counterpart, Ken. "All right, Davis, I washed you, now you wash me." Davis nodded, taking the soap from the Kaiser and reaching under the water to lift up his leg and start scrubbing it. He didn't seem as acquainted with using it as the Kaiser obviously was, but he still did an okay job of scrubbing the Kaiser's legs and feet. Water swirled around him as he then moved closer to the other boy, hands coming to rest on his chest as he began to clean that as well. "What are you thinking?" he asked while trying to sound disinterested.

Davis' one hand ran the soap over pale skin while the other one just sort of lay on one side of the Kaiser's chest. Then, red eyes glanced up as he said, "You have a very nice body, master."

"Do I?" The flattery was lost as the Kaiser continued to just look bored. "You're the first person to ever say that, Davis."

"I'm surprised, master," Davis said, as the hand holding the soap plunged beneath the surface to move over his stomach instead.

Suddenly the Kaiser blushed and gasped softly. "Ah..." He cursed Ken's body for having such a sensitive belly. "D-Davis, that..."

"Your heart sped up," Davis said rather matter-of-factly, his red eyes glancing up at the Kaiser from where he crouched in the water. "Should I stop, master?" he asked, even as his hand continued to move across the Kaiser's stomach.

"Y-Yes," he answered sharply. The Kaiser released a shuddering breath before saying, "You should wash my back now, Davis." Davis finally lifted his hands, waiting for the Kaiser to turn around before he leaned in again and began to wash his back, seemingly unaffected by what he'd just seen by the blank expression on his face, but, as he moved closer, it was apparent that the rest of his body felt otherwise. The Kaiser gasped again. Davis was moving in much closer than was necessary, almost affectionately so, and it was making the Kaiser confused, along with the firm sensation brushing against his lower back. He didn't know where all this independent movement was coming from, and the Kaiser had to wonder if Davis truly did adore him that much as a slave. As if to further prove this true, he felt one of the boy's hands sneaking down his side and closer to his stomach again.

Davis was very slow about it, but soon, his chest was pressed against the Kaiser's back, and as his one hand continued to scrub the Kaiser's side, the other slipped onto his front, his fingertips moving over the other boy's stomach, only registering that it obviously made him feel good, given the way he reacted to it. "Is this okay, master?" he asked quietly.

"I want to know why," the said in an equally quiet tone.

"Why what, master?"

"Why are you doing this? Why are you being this way, Davis?"

"Because I love you, master," Davis answered simply, as he dragged his fingertips delicately over the Kaiser's stomach again. "You know that."

"You love me?" But he knew the real answer to that question. The real Davis hated the Kaiser down to his bones, and this enslaved personality probably didn't know love from the color orange. The Kaiser felt himself weakening again. Fruitlessly wishing the love could be real, even if it came from Davis. Except... they would always hate each other. The boy sighed and shook his head. "If only you really did, Davis..."

Davis' arms soon found themselves wrapped around the Kaiser's waist. "How can I prove it to you, then, master?" came his voice in the other boy's ear.

His whole body stiffened. "The only way to know for sure, is if you removed the spiral and willingly stayed by my side. We both know that wouldn't happen, Davis. I believe you know, deep down, that you would run the first chance you got."

"I am sorry I do not understand my love for you without the spiral," Davis responded, eyelids over glowing eyes lowering slightly as he spoke. "That is why it is such an amazing invention, master."

His hand came to grab gently at one of the arms around his waist. "Davis, you must promise me something."

"What is it, master?"

"You must promise to never take off the spiral. Never leave your master. It makes me sick to admit, but I need your love, Davis. So promise to never take the spiral off and to stay with me forever."

"Then I will promise that," Davis said decidedly, one of his hands coming to rest over the Kaiser's. "I promise to never take it off, master."

The Kaiser nodded. "You are very good, Davis. Your master is pleased."

"I'm glad, master," Davis murmured in response.


	15. The Way It Should Be

The next few days didn't go nearly how the Kaiser had planned. Davis' strangely independent affection still had him puzzled and feeling certain emotions of his own. A very small part of the Kaiser wanted to love Davis in return, but that would never happen. A bigger part of him wanted to hate Davis and torture him for no reason other than fun, but that didn't exactly happen either. What did happen was the Kaiser treating Davis like a regular companion. He would come back to his room at the end of the day where Davis was waiting for him, and they would do various activities together. When the Kaiser got frustrated he still took it out on the enslaved boy, but it was hardly the whips, straps, and vibrators like before. He did still find joy in watching the Chosen Children search fruitlessly for their leader, however. Seeing TK lose his temper and Cody break down into tears put a song in his heart and a spring in his step. Today was a bad day, however. He received news that his controlled Starmon had been set free and the tower he set up had been destroyed. The Kaiser's plan was backfiring. He was sure that without Davis around, the children would fall apart and lose the will to fight. Such was not the case. The Kaiser burst into his bedroom, temper flaring and glaring viciously at Davis. "Your friends won't quit!" he barked.

Davis was curled up at the foot of the Kaiser's bed, not unlike a cat. Instead of being a completely mindless drone like he had been under the influence of the dark ring, the spiral seemed to instead just plant a new and sometimes strange personality into him that stretched far beyond simple blind loyalty to the Kaiser, though that was, of course, there as well. The Kaiser had found that he was capable of long conversations like a normal person, even though he was always inclined to agree with the Kaiser, had few conflicting opinions, and some deep questions made him freeze up and stop talking. Because of all of this, when the Kaiser yelled, rather than looking completely emotionless, he seemed to have an air around him as if he expected this to happen, though it was hard to tell much of his expression with those blank, glowing red eyes. "What have they done now, master?" he asked flatly.

"They destroyed another one of my dark towers, that's what!" He slammed the door shut and started to pace. "I had hoped they still wouldn't be around, but every day they still search for you. What's so special about you anyway? It's not like any of you were even that close. I mean, loyalty and hope can only be stretched so far. I've had you for more than a week, Davis. Do you know how long that is? Ten days to be specific. I would have given up a long time ago. Not only do they keep coming back here, but they continue to fight against me! It's all your fault, Davis."

Davis sat himself up and put his bare feet down on the bedroom floor, watching as the Kaiser paced back and forth. "I'm sorry, master," Davis said, as he then pushed himself off of the bed and stood up. "I would stop them for you if I could."

"You should be sorry... And don't be stupid!" The Kaiser turned and smacked Davis across the face. "You can't possibly go out there and face them! They would have the spiral off of you in a minute! Then what would you be? Loud, arrogant, and defiant! You would be back to your aggravating self, getting in the way of all my plans and mocking me at every turn! I won't go back to that, Davis! I won't! Do you hear me?!"

"Yes, I hear you, master," Davis said, barely flinching when he was smacked across the face. It was all par for the course by now. "That's why I cannot help. But that still does not change the fact that I wish I could, master."

The Kaiser scoffed. "Wishing. Wishing never accomplishes anything. I can wish all I want to be lord and master of this game world we live in, but wishing doesn't make it true! Wishing doesn't win me all of the pawns. Wishing doesn't beat the other players. Wishing is for children and looney old men. Believing in hope and fate and friendship... It's all nonsense! Yet somehow people still have faith. That's what I can't stand, Davis, when people have faith in the most illogical shit. Arrgh! It just makes me want to... to... to...!" And without warning he delivered a swift strong kick to Davis' leg.

"Ghh!" Davis leg buckled from the sudden hit, and he fell to the floor on one knee, his hands also coming forward onto the ground to hold him up. That would definitely leave a bruise, one of the many that spotted his tan skin, all over his body.

But the Kaiser wasn't done yet. "You encouraged them for far too long, Davis!" He delivered another kick to Davis' arm, knocking the boy completely on the floor. "You filled their heads with all that ridiculous hope and determination! Now they won't stop looking for you!" Another kick to the boy's gut. "What if they never stop, Davis?! Huh! What then?! Do you really want to be responsible for me not winning the game?!"

Davis flinched and groaned with every kick, resisting the urge to curl into himself protectively. Instead, he just lay in the same position he was first kicked down into and allowed every blow. "N-n-no, master, I-I don't," he choked between kicks.

"That's right. You don't." Pulling his leg back one more time, he delivered the last kick which earned a wet cough from Davis and a splattering of blood on his pant leg. The Kaiser just sighed though. "Honestly, Davis, learn to keep your mouth closed." He walked around the heap of a human body and started taking off his Kaiser uniform so he could change into something more comfortable.

"I'm sorry, master," Davis apologized, putting his hand over his mouth as he coughed again, before wiping it clean, smearing blood across his arms. It took a few minutes of recovery before he got back up again, and slowly began to approach the Kaiser with his head lowered from behind.

Uniform folded and put away, save for the pants that needed washing, the Kaiser was now in a pair of slim black slacks. He was about to pull on a black shirt when he felt the other boy standing behind him. "Yes?" the Kaiser asked as he turned to face Davis.

"You're tense," Davis stated simply. He raised one hand and made a motion, as if asking the Kaiser to turn around again. "Would you like me to help, master?"

Giving this some brief thought, the Kaiser nodded. A massage did sound rather nice right about now. He turned as requested and put the shirt atop the dresser for later. "Good idea, Davis. You may proceed." Davis' hands reached forward, delicately landing on top of the Kaiser's shoulders. He didn't do anything for a moment, as if unsure. Then, arms that harbored far more strength than their skinniness let on began to work, pushing his fingers into tense spots and working at them with a finiteness that the Kaiser probably wouldn't expect from the boy. Indeed he was surprised. So much so that he stiffened at first, shoulders hunching slightly. He let Davis work though, and soon he was relaxing into the firm pressure of those fingers. The Kaiser never realized Davis was so strong. That young pre-pubescent body of his gave no hints to the powerful muscles inside. Soon his shoulders were slumping and he started to lean back just slightly. "You're very good at this, Davis."

"Thank you, master," Davis said, as his hands continued his work. Thumbs pressed into the back of the Kaiser's neck, moving in circles to relieve the pressure there. "I can do your back if you lay down," he added.

"I like that idea." So he moved to the bed, gesturing for Davis to follow even though he would regardless. The Kaiser laid down on the bed, bringing a pillow up under his chin, and nodded for Davis to continue. "Davis, if I was to reward you for your good behavior recently, what would you want?"

Davis slid onto the bed, his knees coming to rest on either side of the Kaiser's hips as his hands landed on his back and began to knead his spine. When the question was asked, he simply said, "Whatever you would give me, master."

"Would you like a kiss from your master?"

"Yes, of course, master," Davis said with a nod as his hands pressed a bit harder, making a gentle cracking noise rise from the Kaiser's back as the tenseness of his spine was alleviated.

The boy winced slightly. "Nng... Careful, Davis. No harder than that." He sighed as he let all his thoughts drift away. Never having had a massage before, the Kaiser didn't realize how totally freeing one could be. All the anger and frustration just melted along with the strain in his muscles and bones. "I think a kiss can be arranged, Davis. You're certainly earning it right now."

Davis' hands continued to work at that pressure, pressing no harder than the Kaiser told him to. That was another thing he had learned throughout his past ten days with the Kaiser, how to control the softness or strength of his touches. Then, as his hands moved down the Kaiser's spine, he spoke with a sudden lightness in his voice. "Thank you, master. I'm glad to hear that."

He was too relaxed to really hear the change in Davis' voice. The Kaiser just sighed again and nodded. "Kiss my back, Davis. Between my shoulders. I want to feel what it's like."

"Yes, master," Davis said, his hands moving to brace against the Kaiser's shoulders and push them down gently as he leaned down to place a kiss between the Kaiser's jutting shouder-blades.

The Kaiser hummed softly. Davis was rather good at this too, it seemed. "Down to the small of my back," he commanded. Davis' mouth followed a trail down the spine he'd just massaged, kissing at each bump delicately. He had to shift back onto the Kaiser's thighs as his mouth travelled lower, his hands also moving lower, the heels of his palms kneading into the Kaiser's back as his lips moved, until he finished with the final visible bone of the other boy's spine in the small of his back. A constant string of hums could be heard as Davis moved down his back. Each kiss left a delighted spark in his spine. It was one of those times when the Kaiser would be wracking his brain to makes sense of his emotions, but he was just too damn content right now to care. Very slowly he rolled over onto his back so now Davis' mouth was hovering over his stomach. The Kaiser would grant access to this sensitive part of his body if only to again know what it was like. "Now here," he instructed. Davis' hands now settled on either side of the Kaiser's torso as he bowed his head obediently, pressing his lips into the skin of the other boy's stomach. He pulled up very slowly, a quiet sound being made as his lips were taken away from the pale skin, and he shifted a bit to kiss his stomach again, a little bit higher up the second time. "Use... Use your tongue," the Kaiser said, though sounding a tad unsure.

Davis looked up, looking a bit surprised. But he then nodded and said, "Yes, master." He bent his head back down and kissed again, this time atop the shallow dip of the Kaiser's navel, and his tongue soon emerged to tease into it. The Kaiser gasped loudly and his face went ablaze. His whole body trembled as he took in a deep breath, chest expanding. His fingers were curling into the sheets while his head was pressed back into the pillow. Indigo eyes were staring wide and surprised up at the dark canopy overhead. Davis lifted his head, looking slightly concerned. "Are you okay, master?" he asked.

"I... I'm fine, Davis," he replied through a long exhale.

"If you're sure," Davis said, only to kiss again at the Kaiser's stomach before dragging his tongue up it, from the top of his navel to the bottom of his chest.

Too much. It was just too much. "Enough!" The Kaiser grabbed beneath Davis' jaw, fingernails digging into the flesh, and pulled the boy's face up to meet his own. "That's enough, Davis. You were very good. You have earned your reward." Without giving his slave a chance to respond, the Kaiser pressed their lips together firmly. Davis whimpered at first when he was yanked away from his work, but when he realized he was being kissed, he sank into it, pushing back into the kiss, those glaring bright red eyes sliding completely shut. He didn't really intend it, but Davis straightened up enough that he was soon straddling the Kaiser's hips again, putting the other boy's head back against the pillow as he continued to kiss him. The kiss was allowed to go on for a few more seconds before the Kaiser pushed his slave away. "That's it. Stop."

Davis looked a little disappointed, but sat back on the Kaiser's hips and nodded his head obediently. "Okay, master..."

Now it was just awkward. The Kaiser could clearly see that Davis had started to get excited and was now sitting on his hips with it. Desperate to get rid of the boy, he gestured to the pants on the floor. "Go wash the blood stains you made on my uniform, Davis," he commanded.

"Yes, master," Davis said, bowing slightly before sliding off of the Kaiser's body. He stood up and took the uniform before leaving the bedroom to go wash the clothing.

He sighed with relief once Davis was gone. A migrane had gradually been building in the front of his head the past few minutes. It started with that spike of hormones and emotions when Davis proved better with his tongue than the Kaiser realized. He groaned softly and rubbed his temples. What was happening here? What happened to all the sadistic fantasies he'd dreamed up for when the leader of the Chosen Children was back in his possession? Now that boy was invading the corners of his mind and... dare he say... his heart? No! The Kaiser shook his head roughly, refusing to believe such a thing. He was the Digimon Kaiser! What did he need with love? Nothing. It was a waste of time. All of this was just a distraction. He'd lost focus the past few days, but soon he'd be back on track. Davis would go back to being his personal punching bag rather than an experimental partner. That's the way it should be, after all.


	16. Malfunction

For four days, the Kaiser tried to distance himself from Davis and prove, mostly to himself, that he could still carry out the torture he'd had planned for Davis. More bruises were collected on tan skin, some made darker. Some more cuts and wounds also adorned the boy's body, but the Kaiser still had yet to do anything as terrible as he had the first time he captured Davis. And at night, the Kaiser's cruel mask seemed to slip off. When Davis awoke on the fourth day, his already open red eyes moving to look at the Kaiser, he found the paler boy clinging to his side, messy, dark hair resting against Davis' chest. Davis frowned a bit in confusion, but simply kept his gaze on the Kaiser, waiting for him to awaken on his own. A soft noise sounded from the Kaiser now and then. He seemed conflicted with himself as his eyebrows came together just slightly. His hands moved over Davis' body in unconscious exploration. Each touch was very careful, almost accidental, until indigo eyes blinked open and his hands froze in place. The Kaiser saw those red depths gazing down at him and knew Davis was already awake. He blushed slightly and swallowed before whispering, "Davis..." Already he knew he'd made a mistake. Despite the fact he was sleeping, the Kaiser was sending the other boy false messages that were probably going to come back and ruin him.

Davis stared for a second more before he shifted onto his side, propping himself up with one elbow. "Good morning, master," he greeted in his monotone voice quietly, his other hand lifting up from his side. It hung in the air for a moment, the boy clearly pensive, before he reached forward and brushed some messy bangs out of the Kaiser's face.

The Kaiser flinched at the touch. "Yes. Morning." He sat up then, a bit quickly, and tried to move out of the bed. Davis sat up quickly as well, his arms coming to wrap themselves around the Kaiser's waist. Something had obviously changed in his normally submissive behavior sometime during the night. A simple spark of the spiral that had occurred suddenly had him moving even more on his own free will than normal, though his still enslaved mind had only one goal that he normally would not want to obtain. His arms wrapped tightly around the other boy's waist, and he pulled him back towards him, kissing at the back of his neck.

The dark-haired boy swallowed wetly. "Davis. Davis, what are you doing?" He didn't like the chill running down his spine from the kiss. The Kaiser had been trying so hard recently to turn himself off to these affections. The chill settled in the pit of his stomach, making him feel sick. "Davis, let me go," he ordered as he began to struggle in the tan boy's strong hold. "I... I m-mean it, Davis."

Davis did as he was told and released the Kaiser from his hold, only to turn him around and pin him to the mattress on his back. Davis crawled over him and, without a word, started kissing and nipping feverishly at the Kaiser's neck, his hands grabbing the other boy's, squeezing them, and then holding them above the Kaiser's head, refusing to let them go as his mouth continued to work.

"Davis!" he cried. It was the first time the Kaiser ever showed fear. He turned roughly from side to side in hopes of dislodging both Davis and himself. Except it wasn't working. Where was all this strength coming from? "Davis, stop! Stop it! I order you to stop!" The tan boy just kept going, though. The Kaiser felt the kiss grow more heated, rougher, and moving across his body. He wasn't ready for this. He was far from ready. "I said stop!" he shouted and thrust his knee into Davis' gut.

"Agh!" Davis lurched with pain, and a blue spark jumped from the dark spiral on his arm. It was starting to break, and that was the first indication. And as a result, Davis' behavior was quickly becoming out of control. He pulled his head up, red eyes staring at the Kaiser as his hips shifted upwards, straddling the other boy's hips to keep him from using his legs again. Then, he quickly leaned down and pressed his lips against the Kaiser's, almost as quickly forcing his tongue into his mouth.

"No-!" But his shouts were cut off by Davis' mouth. Things were getting far too out of hand far too quickly. The Kaiser began to thrash around. He had to get back control. He'd noticed the spark from the spiral and knew it was breaking down. Davis had to be subdued in order for a new device to be put on, but as tan hands began to reach and grope at places far too private to be mentioned, the spiral became the least of the Kaiser's worries. "Stop! Stop it!" he screamed again when he ripped his mouth away. The Kaiser started clawing at Davis' face, his nails ripping through flesh and drawing blood. "Stop it! Stop it, Davis! No! No!"

"Nngghh- aghh!" Davis screamed with pain, his hands moving off the Kaiser's body to cover his own face, blood dripping through his fingers. The spiral sparked a few more times, making a violent sounding buzzing noise as well. But he refused to move off of the Kaiser's hips. And once he'd nursed his face for only a few seconds, he moved his hands, the blood still dripping off of his face, and seemingly unfazed again grabbed at the Kaiser's wrists, pinned them down, and went back to the Kaiser's neck, blood dripping down his face and across the Kaiser's pale skin as Davis' lips again found their place.

Nothing seemed to be working. The Kaiser was terrified of what this might lead to if he let Davis have his way. Good thing the Kaiser wasn't above the dirtiest and cruelest of tricks. With Davis on his neck, his own mouth had a clear shot at the tan neck as well. Wasting no time, he sunk is teeth into the warm flesh, biting hard until he tasted blood and then some. When Davis moved to grab his neck, the Kaiser pushed the boy off him onto the floor. He scrambled out of bed, grabbed a lamp from the table, and began to beat Davis ruthlessly. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he screamed. "I told you to stop! I told you to stop! Why didn't you stop, Davis?! Now this is what you get! Is this what you wanted?! Is it?! Is it?!"

"Naaaaagggh!" Davis screeched like a wild animal, curled up on the floor as the Kaiser hit him. The boy flinched and cried out with each hit, only for the spiral to begin sparking again. A burning smell began to rise from it as it sparked incessantly, just like when it was first put on the tanned boy, and suddenly the sparks reached the lamp and the lightbulb exploded in its socket. When the smoking lamp went crashing to the ground, Davis wasted no time in reaching up and grabbing the side of the bed to try and get up again, his other hand reaching out to grab the Kaiser as his knees crunched in the still smoking broken glass, cutting his legs up and making them bleed almost as heavily as his face was.

The Kaiser was gripping his burned hand in the other, the powerful spark of electricity have singed his flesh. He saw Davis reaching for him, though, and screamed, "Don't you dare touch me!" He swung his leg up and his foot knocked Davis under the chin sending the boy onto his back. "I swear to god, Davis! If you try anything like that again you punishment will be hell compared to this!"

Davis fell back into the mess of broken glass, a crunching noise accentuating another scream of pain as the glass tore at the healing wounds that still striped his back from his last encounter with the Kaiser. His eyes refused to close, but the boy still covered them with his arms anyway, whimpering pathetically as he lay there, the spiral still sparking and buzzing. It seemed like his onslaught was done as he shook and blood leaked out from under him, but he still didn't say a word.

He approached the boy now, slowly and with caution. When Davis didn't get up, the Kaiser knelt down beside him. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him roughly. "Davis... Look at me, Davis! Apologize to me right now!"

Davis didn't do anything at first, but suddenly his arms shot upwards, and his hands grabbed at either side of the Kaiser's head. Glowing red eyes seemed violently bright as he pulled the Kaiser down by his hair and tried to roughly kiss him again.

Another shocked and angered noise erupted from the Kaiser. Blindly reaching, he grabbed a large piece of the broken light bulb and plunged the shard into Davis' exposed belly. "The next one goes in your eye!" he screeched.

A grotesquely loud, shrill scream of pain tore out of Davis' throat, his red eyes slamming shut. Blood welled up around the shard of glass, and the spiral sparked uncontrollably, making the smell of burning skin practically fill the room. Smoke began to rise from underneath the dark spiral, and Davis thrashed on the floor until the spiral suddenly broke. It fell to the ground in three pieces, smoking and sparking, revealing a spiral-shaped burn wound of warped flesh beneath it. There was a moment of silence before Davis' eyes opened again. The glowing red was gone. Brown eyes, bloodshot and covered with a film of tears, stared up at the Kaiser.

Insane indigo eyes were staring straight back into the tired and broken brown eyes. One hand was gripping Davis' short hair while the other held a second shard up in the air, ready plunge down in case the tan boy decided to act out again. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his face. When everything remained silent with no retaliation, the Kaiser ventured to speak. "...Davis?"

Big brown eyes wavered, wide with fear and confusion. He stared up into the face of his enemy with no emotion at first apparent on his face. Then suddenly, his voice broke over his lips in the form of a choking cry, flooded with pain and emotion that had escaped his tone for two weeks. "Where am I? Wh-what's going on?!"

"You were trying to rape me! That's what's going on!" the Kaiser shot back. The situation was high strung but had also become very delicate. He had to get a new spiral on Davis before the boy could get his wits about him.

Davis looked at the Kaiser with disbelief before he finally felt sharp pains course through his body from every place where the glass had cut open his skin. His hand suddenly smacked the Kaiser's away, sending the second shard of glass he held skidding under the bed. He scrambled to his feet, glass crunching and blood squelching underfoot as he breathed heavily, eyes wide as he stared at the Kaiser. And without another word, he'd turned tail and ran out the door as fast as his aching body could.

"No! Davis, stop!" The Kaiser jumped up as well and chased after the boy. His own feet had been slashed pretty badly by the glass, but he had a better time running than Davis did. Catching up to the boy would be easy, but detaining him was the hard part. Deciding it would take Davis far longer to find his way out of the large citadel, the Kaiser opted to go get a new dark spiral and then hunt Davis down with it. Then things would be fixed and back to normal.

Wormmon had honestly no idea what was going on, but when he crossed paths with the boy running aimlessly, though desperately, through the halls, he knew exactly what had happened. He saw immediately that the spiral was missing and there was no red glow to Davis' eyes. "Come with me," he said loudly enough to get the boy's attention. He might not be able to lead Davis away, but he could at least get the boy out.

Davis seemed hesitant at first, but decided he had no other choice but to follow the Digimon. His mind was so fuzzy that he didn't even seem to make the connection as to who Wormmon even was, he just heard a voice and followed it. Wormmon lead him as fast as he could, which was just barely as fast as Davis could run in his condition. They rushed past one room in front of which the Kaiser's clothing was hanging, and Davis lost his footing and slammed against the door, into a batch of clothes that were hanging on the doorknob. The glass protruding from his stomach snagged on some of the fabric, making him double over against the door in pain. He tore the pair of shorts off, looking at them for a second before hastily putting them on as he regained his breath. Once he'd stopped gasping for air, he was again running after the little green Digimon towards the exit.

Worrmon looked back over his shoulder to make sure Davis was following him. "I know you think the Kaiser is a terrible person, but he's really not," the small insect said. "He needs help. I know it sounds like I'm asking a lot, but I need you to help him. You and the other Chosen Children need to help Ken turn back into the gentle person he used to be. I'm doing all I can to help him, but I'm just not strong enough." He stopped in front of what looked like a regular wall, but the Wormmon jumped up, pressing a button with his claw which caused a door to open to the outside. "Please, Davis, just trust me on this. Ken is a good person. He just needs help finding his way back."

Davis swallowed hard, barely even looking at Wormmon, but rather at some point over his head. Davis' perception of the world was just too hazy and messed up for him to even comprehend what the Digimon was saying. He made a sort of strange hand gesture of recognition before he dashed outside, practically tripping over himself as his bare feet hit the dirt. He looked to either side quickly before picking a direction and rushing off into the forest aimlessly. He had to find a television. He had to find it and put out an S.O.S signal to somebody, anybody. Those were his last thoughts before he passed out.


	17. Second Rescue

TK was at the grocery store with his mom when his D-Terminal began to beep. He drew the device from his pocket and stared curiously at it. Who could be sending him a message now? Regardless, he flipped open the screen only for blue eyes to widen a second later. The boy told his mother that the school's basketball team had just been called for an emergency meeting and ran off before she could ask questions. Going to the only person he knew he could trust, TK was at Yamato's apartment again. Sweating and out of breath from running the enitre way, the expression on his face was enough for his older brother. The two were at the elementary school soon enough, sneaking into the computer lab and using the gate to get to Davis as quickly as possible. TK was the first to reach the boy out cold on the ground. "Oh man... Not again..."

Davis had passed out on his side, and Yamato turned him onto his back, gasping when he saw that his was face nearly completely soaked with blood and noticing the shard of glass sticking out of his stomach. "This is even worse than last time," he breathed, getting down on one knee and shaking Davis' shoulder gently. But he was passed out and nothing was going to wake him. "Let's get him back," Yamato said, as he picked the tan boy up in his arms.

TK had been sure to take care of DemiVeemon in Davis' absence. He knew the little Digimon would want to see his boy again, but he was starting to think he shouldn't have brought DemiVeemon over so soon. The tiny blue Digimon kept getting in Yamato's way as it cried over Davis, throwing itself on the boy's chest and begging for him to wake up. TK very carefully pulled DemiVeemon back, holding him in his arms. DemiVeemon just fought back, though. He squirmed in TK's arms, demanding to be set free, but TK insisted that his brother needed to work. Davis would only get better if allowed to heal. "Why does this keep happening?" the younger blond asked, though he knew it was an impossible question to answer.

Yamato shook his head as he dressed Davis' wounds. He'd managed to remove the glass shards from his legs, feet, and stomach and stop the wounds from bleeding, cleaning everything before he began to wrap him up in bandages. He was just thankful it didn't seem like anything was broken, and that it didn't seem like any fluids other than blood stained the boy's body. "I don't know, TK," he murmured, as he wiped away some more blood from Davis' face, revealing the deep scratches that crisscrossed it and the bruises underneath, just like those that spotted his whole body. "The Kaiser really has something against Davis in particular. The rest of you haven't had anything even remotely close to this happen to you..."

"What did Davis ever do to the Kaiser?" DemiVeemon barked. "Next time I see him, I'm going to bite him in the face! No one does this to Davis without paying for it!"

TK actually struggled to hold the squirming Digimon in his lap. DemiVeemon was strong for his size when he got riled up enough. "DemiVeemon, sshhh..." Light blue eyes watched as his brother worked. How lucky was he that Yamato was still so close by and willing to help. "I wanna tell him he can't go to the Digital World anymore, Yamato. I know we can't baby him, but it just doesn't seem safe for him."

"I think that's his decision, TK," Yamato said, shaking his head. "As much as I know you want to keep him safe, you can't stop him if he still wants to go back and help." He then raised an eyebrow and looked over at his brother. "Were you all even in the Digital World when he got captured this time?"

TK opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. Suddenly he looked a little scared as he shook his head. "No... No, we weren't. Davis just... didn't show up for school that day."

"Then..." Yamato ventured quietly, as he continued to wrap Davis' bloody leg, "What's the possibility that whether or not he goes to the Digital World... doesn't have anything to do with it?"

"But... But what does that mean? Yamato, this makes a whole new problem. How did the Kaiser even get to him in the first place? What if... What if the Kaiser can make gates where ever he wants? I mean, Ken must have created his own gate in his room. What if knows how to make more? He can get anybody at any time. He can come back for Davis whenever he wants!"

Yamato nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately TK, I think you're absolutely right. I'm not sure what we should do."

Suddenly, there was a very quiet groan from another voice in the room. It was Davis, shaking his head slightly before his tired eyes blinked open. He suddenly jumped, bolting upright, yelping, "Get off me!"

"Davis, Davis! Relax," Yamato hushed, putting his hand on his chest and lowering Davis back down onto the floor mattress. "It's just us."

"Davis!" DemiVeemon jumped from TK's now limp arms and scurried over beside his boy. There were so few places he could touch without causing harm, but that little white face of his couldn't help nuzzling gently against Davis' bruised cheek as he squeaked sadly.

TK just watched with a sort of tired smile. "Hey, Davis..." he said. Asking how the kid was feeling sounded like a stupid question in his head, so TK didn't bother. "You, uh... You gave us all a real scare."

Davis seemed scared and confused at first, but when he felt his Digimon nuzzling against him, he finally realized where he was and relaxed. "Hey..." he murmured to the little blue Digimon, before his brown eyes darted over to TK and he managed a quiet laugh that broke down into coughs. When they finally subsided, he murmured, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to."

TK just shook his head. "I don't suppose you remember what happened this time?"

"I..." Davis put the heel of one of his hands against his forehead, frowning slightly. "I... was with the Kaiser..." he murmured, putting a hand over his bare chest. "In my pajamas..." he felt around for the soft fabric, but quickly realized they were no longer there.

"Well, those are long gone now. All you had on were some shorts I've never seen before," TK said. The boy removed his hat and rubbed nervously at the back of his head. "Look, Davis... We think the Kaiser got to you here in the real world."

"He..." Davis' eyes widened a bit, before he suddenly tried to sit up again, but was kept down by Yamato. "He did! He drugged me!"

"Davis, be careful!" DemiVeemon squeaked with his paws on Davis' shoulder.

TK was looking at the injured boy with a surprised look on his face. "He drugged you? You mean you actually remember it happening this time?"

"N-no..." Davis said, shaking his head. "I remember him telling me."

"Davis... Davis, try telling us everything that happened from the beginning. Anything you remember can really help."

Davis laid his head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to recall everything that had happened. "I went to sleep pretty late, and... when I woke up..." The boy frowned slightly. "I don't remember where I was, but it was really cold..." he narrowed his eyes slightly. "And the Kaiser was there. And then... my arm really hurt, and he said that he drugged me and brought me... wherever I was." His head started to hurt, but he kept trying to recall what had happened. "And then... then he said he'd be my friend," he added, sounding confused as the words came out of his mouth.

TK was scowling now. "That guy is the farthest thing from a friend. Look at what he did to you. Friends don't do that, and he's pretty messed up if he thinks so." He leaned forward, fists in his lap. "Besides, you already have all of us. We're your real friends, right Davis?" Davis' eyes widened slightly, and seemed to go out of focus, as if he was seeing something beyond TK, something in the space behind him. Silence reigned over the room for a moment before Davis suddenly broke down into tears. DemiVeemon tried desperately to comfort his boy, but seeing Davis so broken and sad just made the little Digimon break down into tears as well. TK gasped and was at once by his friend's side. "D-Davis? Davis!" Thinking frantically for what to do, TK suddenly grabbed Davis' hand up in his own. He'd seen his brother do it for Tai a thousand times, so why couldn't he? "C'mon, Davis, don't cry. You're okay now. We're here for you. Everyone will come visit you and they'll be really glad to see you. Don't... Don't be sad, Davis."

Davis gasped after a few moments, reaching up with one arm and drying his eyes. "Sorry, sorry," he said quickly, forcing a laugh. "I... I don't know what came over me," he added, shaking his head and giving a grin that looked more like he was trying to convince TK he was okay rather than him actually being. "I'm okay now. S-sorry."

"Davis, look... I'm not very good with feelings..." TK glanced up at his brother and then back down at Davis. "Being friendly and nice to everyone is easy, but emotions are harder. I... I don't know what it must feel like for you, going through all of this. I wouldn't even know how to try. What the Kaiser did is so horrible and it makes me really mad to see you like this. And to know that whatever he did, whatever he said to you that would make you cry like that... It just puts this hot angry knot in my stomach." He squeezed Davis hand. "It may take you a long time to get over this, or it may not. Just know... all of us really do care about you, Davis. We are your friends, no matter what. Okay?"

Davis swallowed heavily at first, staring at TK as if he was waiting for something else. But after a moment, the boy offered the blond a sad looking smile and nodded. "Yeah... okay," he said quietly. His brown eyes glanced to the side and then back at the other boy again. "Thanks, Takeru," he murmured.

TK just shook his head again, offering a smile in return. "You don't need to thank me." He shrugged with a laugh. "We're friends. That's all there is to it."

"Uh-huh..." Davis said, nodding. His voice was suddenly trailing off. He was only looking at the blond for another moment before he closed his eyes, and once again, was passed out.

TK watched as Davis slipped away again. He was still holding the dark skinned hand in his, not even realizing he hadn't let go yet. Something sort of cracked inside TK and soon enough the young blond felt wet trails on his face. "Damn..." he mumbled while wiping his eyes. "Now I'm doing it."

Yamato reached forward with one of his unused cloths and wiped his brother's tears away. "I know it's hard, TK," he murmured. "But what you did just now... I'm proud of you. Hopefully it'll help." He glanced down at Davis and sighed, "No doubt he needs friends right now."

"Well, he definitely has some." TK blinked back his tears and took a calming breath. "I don't know what the Kaiser was thinking, offering to be Davis' friend. Seems like a really lame trick. Davis is smarter than that anyway."

Yamato frowned gently. "Takeru..." he said quietly. "Do you remember when we found the Digimental of Friendship two weeks back?"

The blond boy looked up at his brother. "Sure I do. It belongs to Davis now. I mean... That's just further proof, right?"

"Do you remember when he wouldn't take it at first?" Yamato asked, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"Mmn... Sorta."

"He refused to believe it could possibly be for him," Yamato pointed out quietly, hoping to jog his brother's memory.

TK frowned. "But... Why would he think that when he has all of us?"

Yamato shrugged. "I don't really know, TK. Maybe he's got an insecurity about friendship that we just don't realize."

"But he shouldn't feel that way!" TK insisted boldly. "Davis is a really good friend! Sure he has his flaws, but we all do!" The boy fell quiet then. "He reminds me so much of Taichi. Davis is really brave and he doesn't think ahead too often. He's goofy and keeps a smile on all our faces. He's the last person I would expect to feel like he wasn't a good friend."

Yamato shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm not sure if that's really it, TK. That's just my guess. Maybe you should talk to him about it..." he looked down at the passed out boy again, and all of the bandages covering his body. "After he recovers from this."


	18. A Great Friend

Rain pattered against the window. The water streaked down the glass, and every drop that hit it seemed to echo through the empty apartment. Eventually, the sound of the rain pierced Davis' sleep, and forced him to wake up from his midday nap. He hadn't left Yamato's house or even thought about going back to school yet, and no one visited until the afternoon, so he spent the morning asleep in hopes that it would help him recover. Today, however, the rain was just too loud, so he sat up, the blankets that had been covering him pooling around his waist and exposing his bandage covered torso. Yamato kept changing the bandages, but he said they wouldn't be off for a long while. Davis' brown eyes glanced over at DemiVeemon, who was curled up next to where his head had been on the pillow. He smiled slightly, but then looked down at the bandages and gave a sigh. Glimpses of his own memory had been slipping back to him in dreams, but he still couldn't put together much of what had happened to him. He remembered the words the Kaiser had said to him that very first night he was gone, but he couldn't remember where they were or even why the talk had even started. He just remembered the Kaiser's words, his voice. He heard those words in his head with no visuals to couple them, except for the occasional glimpse of a triumphant, twisted smile. Davis grit his teeth as he recalled the words. The Kaiser said he'd be his friend, Davis remembered that the clearest. He said he'd be his friend because Davis had no other friends. Was it a lucky guess? The boy wished his thoughts didn't always wander to this after he woke up. He leaned forward on his knees and stared down at the sheets with a tired sigh.

TK was fumbling for the key to his dad and brother's apartment while trying to not let the umbrella get blown over the railing. On top of all the rain, there were powerful gusts of wind as well. He wasn't even going to let Patamon try flying. The small Digimon would get blown miles away in a minute. Finally he pushed the door open with his shoulder and stumbled inside. The umbrella hadn't done a whole lot of good as his shorts were dripping on the floor and soaked socks slipped from his shoes. "Davis?" Mr. Ishida worked so often that it didn't matter they were harboring the boy in the apartment. Yamato usually had band practice or dates with Tai, so TK always made sure to come visit him. "Man, it is pouring outside," TK commented as he went to fetch a towel.

At first, Davis didn't respond. The apartment was silent as TK dried off himself and Patamon. The Digimon's big orange ears twitched, listening carefully to the sounds of the apartment. But he couldn't hear much over the rain beating against the windows, or with the towel wrapped around him. "Maybe he's still asleep," the little Digimon offered.

"Maybe." TK nodded. "But I have to make sure he's had something to eat today." The young blond went into his brother's room where Davis was staying. He was surprised to see the boy already sitting up and wide awake. "Davis?" he said with a frown. "Didn't you hear me come in?"

Davis seemed to have been lost in his thoughts until TK spoke his name. His eyes glanced over at the doorway and he seemed surprised to see the blond standing there. "Huh? Oh, no, I didn't. Sorry," he said quickly, lifting his hand to rub at the side of his head.

TK came in to sit next to Davis. "You okay?" he asked while inspecting the bandages for blood marks. "Have you had anything to drink the past few hours? You need to stay hydrated."

Davis shook his head. "Just thinking. And no, I just got up..." he said, letting out a breath as he shifted a bit, not really liking TK inspecting his bandages like that. "I'm fine, though."

Despite those words, TK went to the kitchen and got them both a glass of water. He came back and resumed his place on the floor, handing the drink over. "Davis, are you okay?" he asked again, but with a different inflection in his tone.

"I'm fine," Davis repeated, looking down into the glass of water. He watched the water move slightly when his hands shifted along its outside before taking a drink, and then his eyes went back to the shakily held glass. "Really, I was just thinking about a dream I had, that's all."

TK tilted his head slightly. "Wanna talk about it?"

"It was just the same as they have been," Davis said with a shrug. "I dreamt about what happened. Well, what I remember of what happened. Y'know."

"Stuff he said?" TK asked carefully.

"Yeah," Davis said quietly with a nod, rubbing his fingers along the outside of the glass. "I don't really remember what happened, just the... stuff he said."

"Which you know..." TK went on, still carefully, "wasn't at all true." Davis glanced over at TK at that, but just let out a quick exhale and took another drink from his water. He didn't answer. "Davis. Davis, you know none of it was true. He lied to you so he could trick you," TK insisted. "Why would you believe anything that dirt bag said?"

Davis was quiet for a moment, before he looked over at the other boy. "When I was a kid... well, I am a kid, but when I was littler than now," he started in a sort of fumbling manner. "Anyway, I was pretty popular, y'know? I had a lot of friends." He bit his lip slightly, looking at the ceiling. "I mean, I thought I did."

TK looked back into Davis' tan face. "Well, it's not like that hasn't changed. You've got all of us now. I'd say that's a nice group of friends, right?" He tried to offer a smile. "Plus some of the soccer team players must be buddies with you. You've got a great personality, Davis. I don't see how anyone wouldn't be drawn to you."

Davis just shook his head at that, glancing back upwards. "I overheard them talking one day. I realized that they all said terrible things about me behind my back, but acted like my friends when I was actually around." He offered TK a sort of sad smile. "I don't think you guys do that, but... I always wonder now if people dislike me but just don't say it."

The blond frowned. "That just makes them sucky people, Davis. You're better off without them. I can promise you that none of us ever say that kind of stuff. If we ever talk about it, it's because we miss you and wish you were around to make us laugh." TK smiled again and touched Davis' shoulder. "I said this to my brother, but I want to tell you too. You remind me a lot of Taichi, Davis. You have so much energy and optimism. It's your loud obnoxious humor that keeps a smile on our faces. Sure, sometimes you can be annoying, but so was Tai. Everyone gets on everyone's nerves sometimes, but that doesn't mean we stop liking each other. Davis, to be honest, I don't know where we would be without you."

Davis smiled, nodding slightly. "Thanks, TK. I believe you, really, and it really helps to hear you say that. But it's... not really about that." He shrugged his shoulders, looking back into his glass. "It's a fear, y'know? You can't have it explained away like that. It happened when I was little, and no matter how many times people tell me it isn't true, it's just lodged in my brain and I can't get it out. Even if you tell me I have friends, it's just... always there to haunt me."

TK nodded. "I understand. I think we've all been there, one way or another. When I was little, I had this big scare that Yamato had left me all alone and that he wouldn't be my big brother anymore. I found out later it was a lie, but it put the thought in my head. Now there's a little part of me that's always afraid Yamato won't want anything to do with me anymore. He always insists it isn't true, but... A fear is a fear." He squeezed Davis' shoulder. "Just know... We aren't going anywhere, okay?"

Davis finally looked back at the blond and nodded, a grin reappearing on his face that finally looked like an expression Davis should be wearing instead of the sullen look he'd had on. "Yeah, okay," he said with a laugh. "Sorry about that, TK. It just... got to me."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's okay to feel that way sometimes. Just talk to somebody. I'm always here, and so is Kari. Cody might be kind of young, and I'm sure Yolei could give good advice in a pinch. We're all here for you Davis, because we know you're there for us too." Soon TK's grin was matching his friend's. "I think my bro might have some ice cream in the freezer. You want some?"

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Davis said with a laugh as he tried to dispel the heavy feeling that had hung in the air just moments before. He obviously did not like being too deep or caught up in his emotions for very long. Davis just didn't function like that.

TK laughed as well. "Okay. I'll be right back."

DemiVeemon had stirred awake when Davis laughed so loudly. He rubbed at his big red eyes with his tiny blue paws, and then he looked up at his boy. "You look a lot better, Davis," he squeaked happily.

Davis looked down at the Digimon, grinning and picking him up. "Yeah, much better. I guess all that rest was what I needed." He gingerly touched the healing scratches that crossed his face, but shook his head and instead started scratching behind his Digimon's ear. "How about you, how're you doing?"

"I'm doing really good now that you're better," DemiVeemon answered as he turned his head into the scratching.

"You're the best, DemiVeemon," Davis said, before he smirked and ran his hand down to the Digimon's white belly, tickling him.

DemiVeemon squealed in delight, falling back and wriggling while he laughed. TK could be heard chuckling as he walked into the room. He had two small white bowls with two scoops of chocolate vanilla swirl in each. "It's good to see DemiVeemon smiling again."

Davis laughed when his Digimon did, finally letting up when DemiVeemon needed to catch his breath. "Yeah," he agreed, as he took his bowl from TK. "I felt really bad seeing him so sad these past couple of days. I felt bad for worrying all you guys, actually," he added, as he promptly scooped a big spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "How long did you say I was gone?" he asked with his mouth full and the spoon still held between his lips. "Two weeks?"

TK nodded. "Yeah, give or take a day. We had a problem giving your parents an excuse this time." He got some ice cream on his spoon and then let Patamon suck on the dairy treat. "I told them the soccer team had gone on a field retreat out at some special camp. I even wrote fake letters and put them in your parents' mailbox."

"I can't thank you enough," Davis sighed, the spoon making a gentle clinking sound as he still neglected to remove it from his mouth while he talked. "If you didn't do that, they would have flipped out. The last thing I need to do is try to explain all of this to my parents."

"We didn't tell our parents at first either. We worked really hard to keep our Digimon a secret for the short time we were at home. Soon enough the Digital World met the real world, though. There was so much chaos going on that I don't think our parents had time to think about us being involved in all of it. No one freaked out or got mad. Some of our parents were sad when we left again, but mostly they were proud of us." TK laughed. "How can you punish your kid for saving the world twice, right?"

"Yeah, good point," Davis said, laughing slightly as finally took another scoop of the ice cream. He also put the bowl down so Chibimon could have some. "It must have been pretty freaky for you guys... to be in the Digital World without being able to leave," Davis said after a moment, sounding pensive as the words left his lips. "I can't imagine what it'd be like to live there all the time, for such a long time... it probably put you guys on edge, huh?"

TK nodded his head from side to side. "Well... Yes and no. It was overwhelming to be in a place we knew nothing about, but once we got used to it... It was almost kind of fun. Nothing was what we expected. It was sometimes frustrating when something wasn't what it appeared to be, like phonebooths that told you recipies for cupcakes rather than make actual phone calls. But then there were the times when cool stuff happened, like streets signs growing from trees, or finding chocolate bars in mailboxes in the middle of the woods. Really, what it came down to, was you had to learn to enjoy it, or the Digital World would drive you insane."

"Insane... yeah," Davis said with a nod, leaning back on his hands. "It's a pretty crazy place. I'm pretty glad we can work the Digital Gate and go back and forth..." he smirked slightly, covering up the pensive look he'd had a moment ago. "I mean, I'm sure I could have handled being stuck there, but I dunno about Cody and Yolei."

"People can surprise you," TK insisted. "No one thought Kari or I could survive the Digital World, and we were even younger than Cody at the time. Joe started off being scared of everything, but he braved up as time went on. Mimi was really spoiled and not at all the working type, but even she managed to pull her own weight." The blond boy smiled. "See... the Digital World has a way of bringing all this strength out of you that you didn't know you had. It changes you. All of us grew and became better people thanks to our adventure there. We started off as seven random kids from summer camp, and then came out as one of the closest group of friends you'll ever find. That's why you shouldn't worry so much either, Davis. No one else knows what it's like for you now. The four of us are the only ones who really understand. We need each other to get through this." TK laughed next. "We'll be so close, you'll be sick of us."

Davis listened intently to what the blond had to say, until he also laughed at the end. He opened his mouth to say something, when he suddenly hissed and put his hand over the bandages on his stomach. "Oh, man..." he groaned. "I've been laughing too much today," he joked quietly as he moved his hand away to expose a blood stain that was soaking through the white bandages.

Blue eyes widened slightly. "Oh... Oh man." As TK scrambled through the first-aid kit, DemiVeemon was in Davis's lap and fretting over the bleeding. He rubbed his tiny paws on the boy's hand trying to get the blood off. "Okay. I think I know what to do," TK said. He unwrapped the bandages that were there and put them to the side. Next he took up a square piece of thick gauze and pressed it to Davis's stomach, the other hand on his back. "We have to get it to stop before putting new bandages on or else they'll just soak through, too."

"Right," Davis agreed quietly, groaning when the blond pressed against the reopened wound. While the thin ones on his back had healed up very quickly, though leaving the promise of scars, this one had seemed to refuse to heal. The place where the glass shard had been jammed into his stomach reopened every time he spent too much time talking or laughing or doing much of anything. But still, the only bandages that had never been soaked through were the ones on one of his arms, and he didn't even remember what kind of wound was hidden under them. Finally, the bleeding stopped, and Davis let out a small sigh as TK began to rewrap his stomach in bandages.

TK was silent as he worked. He wrapped Davis carefully and meticulously, like he'd seen his brother do. Band-aids he was good with on his own, but actual bandages were harder. Yamato had instructed TK to not remove the bandage on Davis' arm. The older blond only unwrapped it at night when Davis was sleeping to apply a burn salve. It was working well and hopefully the scar would fade into almost nothing. The kid had enough other markings on him that he didn't need to worry about a spiral shaped burn. After tucking the end into the seam, TK sighed and said very quietly, "I'm sorry, Davis."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault," Davis said, grinning again for TK. "I mean, it happens sometimes," he said, resisting the urge to pick at the bandages, which he often did sometimes, much to Yamato's annoyance. "I'd rather have a good time and need to put on new bandages than just, like, not laugh or talk or anything."

He shook his head. "No... I don't mean that. I mean... I mean all of this."

"Hm?" Davis hummed, looking confused. "Why're you sorry?"

"I feel like I let you down," TK admitted guiltily. "My brother was always there to take care of Tai. If Tai got hurt, Yamato was there to fix him. If Tai was in trouble, Yamato was there to help him. Even save him a couple of times. I can't even protect you from some kid our own age." He sighed, not looking up, but rather tugging on a thread on his shorts. "I know the relationship you and I have isn't the same as theirs, but I still feel like I could do a better job of being there for you. My brother can do it, so why can't I? I should have done more. I mean, I don't know what I could have done, but... I still should have done it. You're my friend, Davis. I shouldn't have let this happen."

"You couldn't have helped it, TK," Davis said, shaking his head. "You know that there's nothing you could have done, and... the Kaiser's really different than anything you guys have faced before. You said it yourself." He reached out, and now it was his turn to clap a hand on TK's shoulder. "I just appreciate you and your brother taking care of me like this. You couldn't have stopped it, but if it weren't for you, I'd probably still be lost in the Digital World."

TK glanced up at Davis. "Yeah?"

"'Course," Davis responded with a grin. "You're a great friend, TK." He hesitated for a moment, but seemed to gather up his resolve and nod affirmatively. "A great friend. Thanks."

TK smiled in return. "No problem." He went back to his ice cream only to find the bowl licked clean and Patamon with a brown and white melted mess all over his face. "Patamon! You ate all of that by yourself? You'll get a bellyache!"

"My tummy already hurts," DemiVeemon moaned, lying on his back with paws on his stuffed belly, ice cream also on his face.

"Sorry, TK," Patamon apologized with his ears pressed against his head. "But it was really, really good!"

Davis smiled slightly, prodding DemiVeemon's stomach with one finger. "That's what you get for stealing my ice cream."

The prodding earned Davis a squeak of a burp. DemiVeemon moaned and tried to roll away from the teasing finger. TK just shook his head, smiling. "I'm gonna get more, but you two can't have any. You've had more than enough already."

Suddenly, Davis lifted his hand up and touched TK's shoulder again. "None for me," he said suddenly. "I'm actually feeling kinda light headed."

"Well that probably means you should at least eat something," TK replied, looking slightly concerned. "I'll get you a banana instead. Try to drink the rest of your water." With that he was on his feet and hurrying out to the kitchen. TK knew Davis was probably getting tired again, but he needed food and liquids just as much as he needed rest to get better.

Davis downed what was left of his water, and when TK returned, he managed half of his banana before he made the mistake of laying down, and was quickly off to sleep. Patamon crawled over to him and shook his shoulder with his small paw, but Davis was done. "Well, he was up a lot longer than last time we were here," the Digimon observed quietly.

"Yeah, that means he's getting stronger," said TK. DemiVeemon crawled up beside his boy, curling up and tucking himself beneath Davis's chin before going to sleep as well. With a stomach full of ice cream, it was no wonder. "C'mon, Patamon. Let's let them rest. Besides, I've got homework to do."


End file.
